Every summer, the same story goes viral on Twitter. “I took a vacation to Italy, had pasta every day and I felt fine. There wasn’t any bloating… In fact, I lost weight! Yet, when I have pasta in America, the opposite happens. I feel sluggish. And when I look at the scale at the end of the week, I inadvertently gain a few pounds.”

Almost everyone who has traveled to Europe has either said this or heard someone say it. The question: is this actually true? And if so, why?

Long story short, there are MULTIPLE factors at play. Europe in general is more walkable than the United States. European cities were built before the automobile, so everything was designed around walking distance, or at most a horse carriage ride. America, on the other hand, was and is designed for the car. That’s why cities and towns are built for driving. While this seems trivial, it’s one factor that absolutely changes how your body handles a plate of pasta.

What we wanted to look at closer in this week’s WK Weekly was how different the actual pasta is across the pond. See, European food and American food play by very different rules. When we looked at artificial dyes in a previous post, we were quite surprised to see how the SAME brand with the same product could produce two very different ingredient lists on each continent. Pasta is no different.

Italian pasta is legally defined. American pasta is not.

In Italy, pasta is protected by law (that’s honestly how serious we should all take it imo). Presidential Decree 187 of 2001 (DPR 187/2001), which amended Law 580 of 1967, defines pasta as a product made exclusively from durum wheat semolina (semola di grano duro) and water. Nothing else.

The law allows a maximum of 3% common wheat contamination to account for cross-contamination during harvest. Pasta with more than 3% common wheat cannot be legally sold as pasta in Italy, though it can be exported (if labeled appropriately).

This means “traditional” Italian pasta has only two ingredients. No iron-fortified flour. No synthetic vitamins. No dough conditioners. No preservatives. Just flour and water. As God intended.

By contrast, most American supermarket pasta is made from “enriched” wheat flour. This is refined flour that has had its bran and germ stripped, removing the wheat's natural B vitamins, fiber, and minerals. The FDA then requires that synthetic folic acid, niacin, iron, thiamin, and riboflavin be added back in. This has been mandatory since 1998.

While the fortification was originally motivated by public health goals around neural tube defects, there’s ongoing debate about how effective it has been.

If you’ve been following us for a while, you know how much we are AGAINST the fortification of iron in so many of our grain products. This iron (free iron) is absorbed by the body very differently from, say, the heme iron in a ribeye steak and leads to a whole host of problems.

Sidenote: What about nonna’s egg pasta? If real pasta is just semolina and water, what about the egg pasta your nonna rolls out by hand? Well, to put it simply, there are actually two great pasta traditions in Italy.

Pasta secca, dried pasta, is the southern tradition. Durum wheat semolina and water. In the hot, dry South (Campania, Puglia, and Sicily), durum wheat thrives, and eggs were historically scarce or too precious to put into everyday pasta. This is the boxed pasta the law above is talking about. Spaghetti, penne, rigatoni, paccheri, etc.

Pasta fresca all’uovo, fresh egg pasta, is the northern tradition. Soft “00” wheat flour and eggs. In Emilia-Romagna especially, where dairy, eggs, and butter were abundant, pasta is made fresh, rolled into beautiful sheets, and cut by hand. This gives you your tagliatelle, tortellini, lasagne, pappardelle, etc. The classic ratio is one egg to every 100 grams of flour.

Bronze-die vs Teflon

When pasta dough is forced through a bronze die (how it’s always been done in Italy), the metal's natural roughness creates microscopic tears on the surface of the noodle. This gives bronze-extruded pasta its porous, matte, slightly chalky finish that sauce clings to. It is the reason good Italian pasta has that beautiful texture you can feel in your hand, and why a ragù clings to it so easily instead of sliding off into a puddle at the bottom of the bowl.

On the other hand, teflon-coated dies are smooth. They produce a glossy, slick, often bright-yellow noodle that sauce slides right off. Industrial producers use Teflon because it is cheaper, faster, easier to clean, and turns out a more uniform product (all the many reasons why so much of the food system has just turned into absolute slop - at the expense of our health).

In essence, bronze-die pasta is more porous and less dense than Teflon-die pasta and this isn’t even the worst part. In the same way that we avoid teflon pans, this teflon coated method is providing you with plastic pasta. Giada De Laurentiis recently raised the concern that American Teflon-coated pasta dies may leach microplastics into the food during the high-heat extrusion process and this is not ideal for your gut.

Slow low-temperature drying vs flash high-temperature drying

Traditional pasta making is an Art. Nonna would very carefully make her pasta and when it was time to dry, she would respectfully give the pasta the time it needs. Traditional pasta is dried slowly at low temperatures and this is a process that can take 24 to 48 hours. This preserves the wheat’s natural aroma and the authentic pale color of semolina, keeping the structural integrity of the proteins intact.

Industrial pasta, including most American pasta, is flash-dried at high temperatures in just two or three hours. It is fast and of course it is cheap, but the thermal shock denatures the proteins, drives off the aroma, and leaves behind that oddly bright, neon-yellow color.

How different is the wheat itself?

Italian dried pasta is made from durum wheat, Triticum durum, a hard, high-protein wheat. Much of American pasta, and most American bread, leans on common wheat, Triticum aestivum, a softer variety. Durum has a tougher gluten and a lower glycemic index. It is, frankly, the better grain for pasta, which is exactly why Italian law insists on it.

Then there is the question of modern wheat versus ancient grains. Over the last century, wheat has been bred hard for yield and convenience. Ancient grains like einkorn, emmer, and khorasan are far closer to what wheat used to be. Some research points to modern wheat carrying higher levels of certain proteins called amylase-trypsin inhibitors, or ATIs, which can switch on a low-level inflammatory response in sensitive people. That is one explanation for why some people feel “off” after eating modern wheat.

Most American wheat is also higher in gluten proteins than the softer European varieties. It is often grown in sulfur-poor soil and frequently sprayed with glyphosate, a practice far more restricted across Europe.

How are you eating your pasta?

The way you eat pasta matters as much as the pasta itself. In Italy, pasta is primo, a first course, not the oversized main event. A normal portion is just 80 to 100 grams of dried pasta. You eat it slowly, at a table, in conversation, usually with no phone in sight and often with a glass of wine. The meal might last an hour or two. Eating slowly and calmly puts your body into the state where it actually digests well. Especially when you get up after the meal and go for a cute little walk.

Compare that with the American default where portion size is larger. Pasta is eaten fast and followed by sitting at a desk or in a car. Whether you’re eating pasta or not, a post meal walk is one of the best things you can do for your digestion and mental clarity (especially after lunch).

Now, let’s talk pasta shape

Pasta shapes matter. You can have the best sauce in the world and pasta cooked perfectly al dente, but if you are not in the mood for pappardelle, it is just not going to hit. Before getting into the tier list, here are the broad categories pasta shapes fall into.

Long pasta, pasta lunga
Spaghetti, angel hair, linguine, fettuccine, tagliatelle, pappardelle, bucatini. Strands and ribbons. Long pasta works best with sauces that coat rather than cling. Olive oil and razor thin garlic. Light tomato. Seafood. Silky cream. The wider the ribbon, the heartier the sauce it can carry, which is why pappardelle is BEST for a slow ragù.

Short pasta, pasta corta
Penne, rigatoni, paccheri, garganelli, fusilli, cavatappi, casarecce, rotini, macaroni, anelli. Tubes and curls. Short pasta works best with chunky sauces. Every little ridge, hollow, and curve is a trap for bits of meat, herbs and texture. A good rigatoni with a thick amatriciana catches sauce inside and out.

Stuffed pasta, pasta ripiena
Ravioli, tortellini. Usually the egg pasta we talked about earlier, and here the filling is the star, so the sauce should not overshadow it. Think about a light tomato, a simple broth, etc. Drown a delicate tortellini in something heavy and you have wasted the filling entirely.

Baked pasta, pasta al forno
Lasagne sheets. Literally designed to hold their structure in the oven and soak up flavor over a long bake.

And of course we have the odd child - gnocchi - which I definitely see as more of a dumpling than pasta but hey, to each their own!

Now that we have that out of the way, remember - pasta shapes absolutely matter and not all shapes are created equal. So in classic WARKITCHEN fashion, we made another tier list that caused a stir. This tier list was made by collective opinion in our IG channel - WARKITCHEN SOIRÉE.

A few notes before you leave a hate comment. Yes, farfalle is in D tier. The bowtie looks real cute but that pinched center NEVER cooks evenly, and the community agreed: it was the single most overrated shape in the whole vote. Yes, rotini is down there as well. And dinosaur pasta sits at the very bottom (sorry kids but I never understood the hype - even as a five year old). Kids deserve REAL, beautiful pasta!

What’s your favorite pasta shape?

Announcement: We’re looking for more submissions for our much awaited FERTILITY print issue. We’re combining our fertility digital issues (Issue 32 & Issue 35) along with some exclusive recipes & articles. As some of you already know, this is going to be our first perpetual issue :)

The plan is for it to be a coffee table book you’ll pass down for generations, and one we’ll keep reprinting in the years to come. So if you’d like to be part of this, please send your pitch to rocky@warkitchen.net (or simply reply to this email in your inbox). Artists, writers, illustrators, flâneurs, models, designers, eccentrics - ALL WELCOME!

Here are some particular topics we’re looking for:
- Everything about Birth [taken]
- Endometriosis & PCOS [taken]
- Navigating Miscarriage
- Coming off birth control
- Takes a village to raise a child [taken]
- Father’s role in fertility
- Postpartum traditions
- Postpartum guide
- Tracking your fertility
- Fertility centric recipes
- Other topics also welcome :)

Looking forward to reading your pitches! Also feel free to attach past work, etc 🙌

Mother’s day

We hope you got your whimsy back

Coconut lattes

Understand the art of coconut coffee (few)

Size doesn’t matter

Microfoods maxxing is the art of tastefully incorporating tiny (but powerful) servings of food in your daily meal architecture for compounding the likes the S&P500 has never seen before.

View time as life

Spending time is spending life; never forget that

❋ How To Make A Sorbet Without A Recipe by

“At its essence, sorbet is simply a mix of water and sugar. When this mixture has the right balance of sweetness, you create a syrup with a low enough freezing point, which creates a sorbet that is smooth and without large ice crystals, scoopable straight from the freezer, and pleasant to eat. If the syrup is too high in sugar, it won't be able to freeze at all (sugar doesn’t freeze) and will be loose and slushy even after hours in the freezer. If the syrup has too little sugar, the sorbet will freeze like a block of ice and will be unpleasantly icy.

The perfect sorbet is made with a syrup that is about 20–30% sugar. With water and sugar, this is obviously easy, but when you add in a fruit puree, judging, this is much trickier. When talking about the sugar in sorbet, I am referring to ‘total sugars’ not just ‘added sugars,’ so the fruit, which contains naturally occurring sugars, makes calculating the right amount to use much more complicated. Professionals use a tool called a refractometer, which can measure the concentration of sugar in a given liquid. Unless you want to buy one of these fancy tools, what are your other options? Remember when I said I would teach you a cool trick to make sorbet without a recipe? Well, that cool trick is an egg. Yes, you read that correctly, an egg. When you’ve made a sorbet base, a mixture of fruit puree and sugar, you can measure its sugar content by dropping in an egg. How the egg floats tells us how much sugar is contained.” —

❋ Breastfeeding essentials from a crunchy, minimalist mom by [Paid Post]

“Six months into exclusive breastfeeding, and I can honestly say it has become one of the sweetest parts of motherhood for me. It’s not always easy or glamorous, but it has surely been far more intuitive than I expected once I stopped overcomplicating it.

I’ve found that the less I bought, the less I stressed, and the more I trusted my body and my baby, the smoother breastfeeding became.

There are entire aisles dedicated to breastfeeding products now. Special gadgets. Supplements. Devices. Schedules. Apps. Systems. I’m here to tell you that you don’t need it all. Or really much of anything at all.

After six months of nursing day and night, these are the things that actually worked for me, the things I truly used daily, and the habits that made breastfeeding feel effortless. Also, what I did to recover from mastitis naturally to avoid nuking my gut (and baby’s gut) with antibiotics. And of course, my controversial take on pumping.” —

❋ Strawberry cinnamon roll bites by

“These Strawberry Cinnamon Roll Bites are soft, fluffy, and insanely gooey in the best way. Each little bite is rolled in a warm brown sugar cinnamon mixture so you get that classic cinnamon roll flavor all the way through. Then they’re layered with a bright, jammy homemade strawberry compote and a brown sugar syrup that sinks into every single nook and cranny — ugh it’s just so good.” —

❋ A collection of things i've been loving by

“Collecting vintage books. i recently got a pre-rockefeller herbalism book (culpepper’s herbal- it’s a classic). i just bought a first edition of bambi and can barely wait for it to arrive. i want to have a very small collection of vintage books- super intentional ones. they make me so happy. i need to find the perfect way to display them. by the way, i’ve been sourcing all of my vintage books from ebay!” —

❋ Why You Need to be Bindermaxxing by

“The modern toxic load is categorically different. Humans evolved with a baseline toxin exposure tolerance (smoke from fires, phytochemicals, microbial toxins), but we are triple digit multiples over our detox capacity.

Glyphosate, microplastics, PFAS, heavy metals, mycotoxins, phthalates, pharmaceutical residues, pesticides, industrial solvents. No prior generation of humans has faced this combination at this concentration with this level of bioaccumulation.

Your detox pathways are over capacity. Your glutathione is depleted and your liver is likely recirculating toxins as we speak.

Binders break this loop. They absorb toxins in the gastrointestinal tract (before they hit your liver) and carry them out through stool. Literally a cheat code for detox.” —

❋ Mary Berry’s easy sticky toffee pudding

“Mary's all-in-one sticky toffee pudding is sticky, gooey and remarkably easy. Baked in a large dish, this is a family-sized pudding, spooned out or cut into squares to serve.

For this recipe you will need a 1.7-litre/3-pint ovenproof dish and an electric whisk.

Each serving provides 927 kcal, 9g protein, 88g carbohydrates (of which 60g sugars), 59g fat (of which 36g saturates), 1.5g fibre and 1.9g salt.”

More links:

❋ Don’t forget to feed your soul

❋ How to send wax sealed letters in the mail

❋ Voile spaghetti measure

❋ Does anyone care what you wear to a tennis match?

❋ Beef tonato

❋ Homemade herb ravioli recipe

❋ Swizzle stick

❋ Pecorino Romano vs Parmigiano Reggiano

❋ The Liber’s Four Freedoms

Have an amazing week!
— Rocky

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❋ All our digital issues are free to peruse. Explore our latest:

❋ Winter 25/26 Coffee Table Book (Print)

❋ Explore the full WARKITCHEN archive here.

❋ May’s Spotify playlist (suggestions always welcome!)

❋ Got an article or recipe in mind? We’d love to hear more! Please send your pitch to rocky@warkitchen.net.

Words by Andrew Sinclair

What Exactly Does Mold in Coffee Mean?

In professional coffee terms, “mold” usually points to a problem that happens before roasting, at the green coffee seed stage, especially during post-harvest drying, storage, or shipping.

Coffee is an agricultural product. If green coffee seeds sit too long at the wrong moisture conditions, think warm, humid environments, slow or uneven drying, or storage conditions where coffee can reabsorb moisture, fungal growth becomes more likely. That doesn’t mean you’ll see fuzzy mold on a seed. Often, the first sign is a musty aroma or flat, stale flavors that show up later in the cup. Two technical measurements matter here:

• Moisture content (how much water is in the seed)

• Water activity (how available that water is for microbial growth)

Water activity is especially important because it correlates with the conditions that allow certain molds to grow and potentially produce toxins.

The Real Contaminant Concern - Ochratoxin A

When mold in coffee becomes a health conversation, it’s typically because of Ochratoxin A (OTA), a mycotoxin - that is, a toxin produced by certain molds - most commonly associated with aspergillus and penicillium. It’s a chemical compound that can be produced under the right conditions, especially when food or agricultural products are dried or stored poorly.

OTA matters because toxicology research has shown it can affect the kidneys in animals, and it’s treated seriously enough that some regions set maximum limits for it in foods, including coffee.

What Roasting Does (And Doesn’t) Do

Here’s what often gets oversimplified online: roasting will kill all living microbes, including molds. But mycotoxins are not the same thing as living mold, and they can be more heat-stable, similar to the abundance of other volatile compounds we love to taste in coffee.

The good news is that coffee roasting can and does substantially reduce OTA - the literature shows reductions ranging roughly 70 to 95 percent, depending on roast conditions and starting contamination levels. The important nuance is that “substantially reduced” is not the same as “guaranteed zero”.

So the practical takeaway is:

• Roasting makes microbial growth a non-issue in
  brewed coffee

• Quality and supply-chain handling are what matter
  most upstream

• If a coffee ever had a handling problem, what typically survives into your experience isn’t “mold”, it’s flavor damage or off flavors

How Mold-related Problems Show Up in the Cup

In the roasting world, the most common sensory fingerprint of poor storage or moisture exposure is what we call “bagginess” - a dull, stale defect often detected first in fragrance and aroma.

Typical baggy descriptors:

• musty / damp basement

• wet cardboard

• old towel

• papery, woody, flat, “warehouse” character

On the palate, it can taste lifeless and dusty. Most professionals describe it as a chemical or soapy flavor. I find the largest taste descriptor of mold flavor damage is when coffee tastes like soap.

Should You Be Worried About “Literal Mold” in Your Coffee?

For most people, no. The coffee you drink is roasted, and then brewed with hot water. That combination makes “active mold” an unlikely concern in the final beverage. The bigger issue by far is cup quality and whether a coffee was handled well enough upstream to avoid the kind of storage or drying process damage that creates stale, musty flavors. It’s also worth being realistic about mold and its relationship to coffee. OTA and other mycotoxins aren’t unique to coffee. They can show up across the food system especially in products that are dried or stored for long periods. So when a brand sells “mold-free coffee,” the right question isn’t “Is everyone else selling mold?” - it’s: What standards and testing are they using? Are they sourcing fresh crop? How is green coffee being stored and shipped? Are they being transparent? “Mold free” isn’t a regulated phrase in the way most consumers assume. The real conversation is quality control, good storage, and responsible sourcing.

How to Avoid Off Flavor Coffee

Buy Fresh Crop Coffee Seeds

Fresh crop matters. Coffee can remain excellent for many months when stored properly, especially in protective packaging, but once you’re well into the previous harvest year, risk goes up (staling, storage notes, and general flattening). Pay attention to the harvest year/season, or buy from roasters who can and will tell you.

Buy From Roasters You Trust

A good roaster should be able to answer, “Is this fresh crop, and how was it stored/shipped?”. If they can’t answer basic sourcing questions, you’re guessing.

Be Cautious With “Mystery Dark Roasts”

Dark roasting, or heavy development roasting, has its place. But it’s also true that pushing heavy roast development can mask defects. If a roaster known for light/medium roasts suddenly drops a “special” very dark or developed offering with vague sourcing, it’s reasonable to ask why.

Avoid Marketing That’s Louder Than the Experts in the Coffee Industry

If the pitch is mostly fear, “every coffee expert missed this for 100 years but we discovered this all of the sudden” that’s a massive red flag. Coffee quality is a global industry with real standards, real labs, and very serious import/export requirements. No one has discovered a secret toxin or secret poison that the entire coffee world somehow ignored.

Ask About Protective Liners

One of the biggest practical improvements in green coffee trading and green coffee quality has been the use of hermetic liners like GrainPro liners. These reduce moisture exchange during shipping and storage and help preserve freshness. Even if you’re not buying green coffee yourself, you can ask your roaster whether their coffee comes in hermetic liners. Roasters who pay attention to that detail usually handle coffee more carefully across the board.

Treat ‘Aged,’ ‘Monsooned,’ and ‘Long-Stored’ as Intentional Exceptions, Not Defaults

Some of these styles are traditional and can be enjoyable, but they’re not the best bet if you’re trying to minimize musty/storage driven flavors. If your goal is “clean, vibrant, fresh,” buy fresh crop coffees that are clearly positioned and stored for that outcome.

For most coffee drinkers, “mold in coffee” is not a daily health crisis. For coffee professionals it’s not even a health crisis, it’s just a bad tasting cup of coffee we’re not going to drink again. It’s primarily a green coffee handling and storage conversation, and in the cup, it usually shows up as staleness, mustiness, and flat flavor, not as literal mold. If you want cleaner coffee, skip the fear marketing and focus on what actually predicts quality. Fresh crop, transparent sourcing, careful storage, and a roaster who treats coffee like a perishable agricultural product, not a shelf stable commodity.

Andrew and Sarah Sinclair are the owners of Mad Lab Coffee in Los Angeles, California, a specialty coffee roaster and café built on the belief that great coffee should be both deeply intentional and genuinely welcoming. Their approach blends rigorous craft, careful sourcing, precision roasting, and repeatable brewing standards with a hospitality-first experience that makes customers feel at home.

Andrew brings a systems-minded, technical lens to the work, obsessing over the variables that shape flavor from roast development and extraction metrics to water and equipment calibration so every cup is clean, expressive, and consistent. Sarah anchors the brand and the room, focusing on service, culture, and the details that turn a coffee stop into a place people return to: clarity, comfort, and connection. Read Sarah’s piece on Rituals, Balance & Coffee here.

Together, the Sinclairs have grown Mad Lab Coffee into a Los Angeles community staple equal parts craft and care where the work is serious, but the vibe is never pretentious.

This piece was first published in Issue 41 of the WARKITCHEN, explore the rest of the issue here. Enjoy the experience 🥂

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❋ Winter 25/26 Coffee Table Book (Print)

❋ Explore the full WARKITCHEN archive here.

❋ Got an article or recipe in mind? We’d love to hear more! Please send your pitch to rocky@warkitchen.net.

Everything is labelled a superfood these days. Sea moss. Kale. Even chia seeds. Don’t get me wrong, I love adding some chia seeds to a bowl of yogurt but superfood? Probably not…

Open Instagram and every other month there’s a new ingredient claiming to be the next big thing. Sometimes it’s actual food. Other times it’s a weird brown blend or some green dust powder. Yet when you look under the hood, the ingredients almost always let you down.

So as usual, we made a list of our own. Not the prettiest looking. Not the easiest to turn into a pill. Just the foods we’ve been eating as a species forever. These are superfoods that actually deserve the title.

Animal Renaissance

Beef and animal foods in general have been villainized for far too long. In my humble opinion, whenever anyone talks about superfoods, the first thing they should mention is animal foods.

Beef liver is the APEX. The most nutrient-dense food on the planet. Just one tablespoon feeds you more retinol, B12, copper and folate than most multivitamins manage.

Beef heart is absolutely underrated. It’s the best whole food source of CoQ10 - the molecule your mitochondria use to make energy. Heart strengthens your heart. Like for like.

Beef kidney feeds you selenium, riboflavin, and biotin for skin, hair, nails, metabolism, and thyroid.

Bone marrow (an incredible spread for your sourdough btw) gives you calcium, phosphorus, collagen, and a richness that runs through every great traditional cuisine, from osso buco to pho to bone marrow on toast. There’s a reason it’s known as “Butter of the Gods”.

Colostrum is the first milk a mother cow produces. Concentrated immunoglobulins and growth factors designed by nature to support your gut.

Berries, Fruits and Vegetables

You must be thinking… Rocky, are you sure a CHERRY is that good to be given the superfood title? Well, acerola cherry isn’t any other cherry. Pound for pound, it’s the best whole food source of Vitamin C on the planet, with all cofactors intact.

If you’re looking for ANY Vitamin C supplement, always look for one based on acerola cherry. Nothing else comes close.

Then we have bilberry. You've probably never heard of it. Think of it as blueberry's wild Scandinavian cousin, picked from forests that don't get sprayed. It's been studied for decades for blood sugar regulation and eye health.

Goji is a classic. It’s been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. Bergamot is great for your skin, supporting antioxidant defense and it also smells incredible.

Cacao for magnesium, copper, polyphenols, and the simple fact that it tastes like beautiful chocolate. Carrot root for sharper vision, stronger immune function, and thyroid support. Date for natural sweetness and prebiotic fiber that feeds the microbiome. Rosehip for stronger joints and lower inflammation.

Other Notable Mentions

Kelp is the marine superfood, with one of the highest iodine concentrations of any food on the planet (which is why it supports thyroid and metabolism so directly). Whenever you’re at a Japanese restaurant, notice how they always serve you a side of wakame. Elite ball knowledge.

Bee pollen carries 250+ bioactives in a single granule. Amino acids, minerals, enzymes, anti-inflammatory and immune-supporting effects.

Mineral sea salt IS a superfood! We used to fight entire wars over some salt. Good quality, hand-harvested salt with trace minerals is one of the most important things you should consume - on a daily basis - especially if you’re someone who engages in long distance running, cycling or any cardiovascular sport for more than an hour a day.

Coconut water for potassium, the electrolyte involved in cellular hydration, energy metabolism, and recovery. Paired with salt, you’ve just unlocked elite level hydration.

Lion’s mane is called the brain mushroom for a reason. Compounds that support nerve growth factor production, studied for memory and cognition. The texture, cooked fresh, is spookily similar to crab.

We’ve always been against weird green powders that don’t seem to do anything. We’ve always only pushed for REAL food that gives you actionable results. So it was interesting to see OMNI¹ on the same mission.

They’ve somehow managed to put 30+ of these foods into a single daily scoop - foods you don’t usually find in regular “superfood blends”. ACTUAL superfoods we’ve been obsessing about for years.

Beef organs from grass-fed regenerative cattle. Real bone marrow. Wild berries picked from Scandinavian forests. Functional mushrooms grown whole. Mineral sea salt and real coconut water for electrolytes. No fillers. No artificial anything. Plus it contains added soil-based probiotics to support gut health.

If the infographic above is the “starter pack” as you would call it, OMNI¹’s blend is the upsized version. They’ve added another twelve ingredients on top of what we mapped out. Here are a few that stand out.

Collagen. The amino acids that build skin, hair, nails, joints, and gut lining. Modern diets are wildly deficient because we throw away every part of the animal that contains collagen. Adding it back is one of the simplest upgrades you can make to a real-food diet.

Bee propolis. The Greeks called it defense of the city because bees use it to seal the hive against pathogens. Strong anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity, used for centuries for wound healing.

Hawthorn berry. A cardiovascular tonic in European folk medicine for centuries. Vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium. One of those ingredients you don’t see often, which is precisely why it deserves a spot.

Cordyceps. The energy mushroom. Used in Tibetan medicine for endurance and lung function. The reason it now lives in every legitimate athlete’s stack. OMNI¹ also uses Cordyceps militaris, the superior form, with significantly higher levels of cordycepin (up to 90 times more).

Reishi. The immunity mushroom. Used in Eastern medicine for over 2,000 years for stress, mood, and immune balance. Bitter, earthy, called “the mushroom of immortality” for good reason.

Eleuthero root. Sometimes called Siberian ginseng (technically it isn’t ginseng, but the effect is in the same neighborhood). Long history of use for endurance, immune function, and recovery.

The three Bacillus strains. Most probiotics on the market use refrigerated lactic-acid strains that don’t reliably survive your stomach acid. OMNI¹ uses three soil-based strains, which are exactly what they sound like. Bacteria that evolved in soil, the kind your great-grandmother got every time she pulled a carrot out of the ground. B. clausii for immunity. B. coagulans for bloating and IBS, which has the strongest evidence of the three. B. subtilis to support the gut barrier itself.

Magnesium. The electrolyte most modern people are short on. Involved in over 300 reactions in the body, from sleep to muscle function to energy production.

We’re real food first here and always will be. The best version of this stack is to actually eat the food. Sear a slice of grass-fed liver in tallow once a week. Simmer bone broth on the weekends. Spoon bee pollen onto your yogurt. Eat berries when they’re in season. Find a sea salt you love and use it generously. But for most people, the time, the sourcing and the cooking aren’t always there. And till now the alternative has usually been a synthetic multivitamin or some kind of green powder that doesn’t do anything for you.

OMNI¹ is the cleanest version of this category we’ve found. 30+ whole foods in one scoop. Grass-fed, regenerative, organic, wild-harvested. No fillers, no artificial colors, no added sugar.

It replaces around twelve separate supplements (organ complex, colostrum, collagen, soil-based probiotic, electrolyte mix, mushroom blend, adaptogen, sea salt, magnesium, vitamin C complex, prebiotic fiber, and a wild-berry antioxidant).

The whole point of the word “superfood” was supposed to be foods that punch far above their weight nutritionally. Foods you should be eating regularly. OMNI¹ is putting that meaning back where it belongs. One scoop, thirty real foods, no fluff.

Start your OMNI¹ here.

What’s on your superfood list? Which one ingredient do you swear by? Let us know in the comments.

Disclaimer: This isn't medical advice. Everyone's body reacts differently to supplements, especially blends with multiple ingredients. Use at your own discretion, and consult with your doctor especially if you're on medication or managing a condition.

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It's a penny loafer spring summer

❋ Passion Fruit Possets

“The first time I recall encountering passion fruit was during a high school trip to Australia. It took nearly 24 hours of travel across the world and hemispheres to meet the wrinkly, fragrant fruit, with its vivid, liquid gold, and mouth-puckering tropical flavor. I first tasted it drizzled over the most heavenly pavlova (which I proceeded to order every night I could for dessert during my visit, but that’s another story), and fell in love.

Over the years, passion fruit has been that treat I could never resist — whether traveling in Hawaii and enjoying all the lilikoi (passion fruit) treats, tasting passion fruit desserts on trips to South America, or marveling at the climbing passion fruit sprawling beautifully on my sister’s fence down in San Diego. To me, it’s the flavor of vacation, the scent alone enough to make me feel instantly relaxed.”

❋ Brown Butter Banana Pudding Cupcakes by

“Each cupcake is filled with a smooth, creamy classic vanilla pudding right in the center — so when you bite in, you get that nostalgic banana pudding flavor that simply…never gets old. Then they’re finished with the lightest, fluffiest whipped buttercream that just melts in your mouth, and a generous sprinkle of crushed Nilla wafers on top for that perfect little crunch.

Every layer is doing something — and together it all just works so beautifully. Nostalgic, dreamy, and honestly so fun to make (and perfect for Mother’s Day if I do say so myself)!” —

❋ Simple Rhubarb Compote

“Last week, on a much-needed grocery shopping trip, I couldn’t help but spy, tucked into the corner of the produce section at Whole Foods, a ton of fresh rhubarb.

It was just sitting there, silently willing me to pick it up and take it home with me. Fully expecting it to cost a small fortune, I searched for the price and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was only $2.49 a pound.

Not cheap in the grand scheme of things, but for rhubarb, practically a steal! I took it as a sign. Without any sort of plan or recipe in mind, I snatched up a lot of it. About two pounds to be precise.

I could have made a pie, a crumble, and any other number of delicious creations. But after a bit of deliberation, I ended up preparing it one of my favorite, go-to ways.

A ridiculously simple rhubarb compote made with just four ingredients: rhubarb, lemon peel, sugar, and vanilla. It is delicious as a topping on yogurt for breakfast, tastes even better on steel-cut oatmeal, or can even be swirled into ice cream.”

❋ Fluffy Sourdough Cottage Cheese Pancakes

“These Sourdough Cottage Cheese Pancakes are soft, fluffy, and packed with protein. Made with sourdough discard, they have a slight tang that pairs perfectly with the creamy texture of cottage cheese. These pancakes are easy to make and a great way to use up extra sourdough starter.

They cook up golden brown with a light, airy inside, making them a delicious and satisfying breakfast. Serve them with honey, fresh fruit, or your favorite toppings for a wholesome meal. Whether you’re looking for a healthy pancake recipe or just love sourdough, this simple recipe is sure to become a favorite!”

❋ The world reveals itself to those who travel by foot by

“One of my more important learning experiences was when I was sixteen, and my best friend Christoffer and I biked from Sweden to the Åland Islands in Finland. We didn’t have any cell phone connection abroad, so my parents didn’t know where we were (and were admirably chill about that). And we weren’t allowed to stay on camping grounds, since we were underage (and also didn’t have any money), so we had to convince strangers to let us put our tent on their land.

On the first night, after biking for eight hours, we sat in a square in Hallstavik—a town of 4,000 inhabitants—feeling a bit depressed because we couldn’t figure out where to sleep. A man with a white van stopped and asked us if we needed somewhere to stay.

Christoffer said, “…yeah.”

The man, who said we could call him Biker Pete, knew a place further out into the woods. We could put our bicycles in the back. We said we’d bike after him rather than get in the car (we had heard stories of men with vans).” —

❋ Bialy with Courage Bagels’ Arielle Skye

“Partnering with her fiancé, Chris, together they have perfected their “baby bagel of our dreams: a charred, complexly flavoured bagel with a shattering glassine crust and a delicate inviting interior.” We spent a chilly Los Angeles morning in the couple’s sunny bungalow learning how to bake the bagel’s not-so-distant cousin, a well seasoned bialy.

Their recipe has been created with the home cook in mind and updated with the always-appropriate za’atar seasoning. Sourced from the local markets, the ingredients are simple yet thoughtful and full of flavour. The hot bialys were served alongside creamy labneh, ripe tomatoes, finished with grassy olive oil and flaky grey salt. But if you happen to live outside of a warm utopia where tomatoes aren’t in season, other servings are always welcomed including a Courage favourite, cucumbers and salmon.”

More links:

❋ The London flat of Phoebe McDowell

❋ Rattlesnake Cove Oyster

❋ NYC’s Best Bread + Butter Service

❋ Caffeine Spectrum

❋ How countries split their meat and fish

❋ Name of animals vs cooked meat

❋ Bonne Maman Iced Latte

Enjoy your weekend!
— Rocky

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❋ Winter 25/26 Coffee Table Book (Print)

❋ Explore the full WARKITCHEN archive here.

❋ Got an article or recipe in mind? We’d love to hear more! Please send your pitch to rocky@warkitchen.net.

Words by Sarah Sinclair

Coffee as a Tool

Today, as a mother, a wife, a business owner, and a creative, coffee has taken on an entirely new meaning. I find myself honoring it, anticipating it, even relying on it not just for energy, but for presence. There are days when I swear it’s the quiet thread holding everything together. Coffee is a tool, and one that I use with intention. I’ve learned how powerful it can be, not only for focus and energy, but for grounding myself in the middle of full, demanding days. Coffee has a way of asking us to pause, to breathe, to be present, even when everything around us feels loud.

Having coffee available at any moment feels like a small luxury, a blessing I don’t take lightly. It supports both productivity and presence. Between running a business, helping my daughter organize her room for the tenth time this month, and finishing creative work, that warm mug gives me the gentle lift I need to stay engaged, patient, and present.

Paired With Nourishment

That said, balance is essential, especially for women. Our bodies are intuitive and responsive, deeply affected by timing, nourishment, and stress. Our relationship with coffee requires intention. Especially in the morning, when the house is buzzing and everyone else’s needs come first. Children need to get to school and lunches need to be packed, all while husbands are getting nudged out the door and we’re nudging ourselves out the door. Somewhere in that beautiful chaos, our own needs tend to fall to the bottom of the list.

Through experience, I’ve learned that coffee works best when it’s paired with nourishment. It asks for a partner - ideally, a protein-rich breakfast that will sustain our energy, balanced hormones, and focus that lasts beyond the morning rush. Our hormones are sensitive, responsive, and deeply connected to what we consume and when. Coffee on its own may feel productive, but without proper fuel it can push cortisol higher, disrupt thyroid function, and leave us depleted later in the day.

When coffee is enjoyed alongside real food, whole ingredients, adequate protein, healthy fats - it becomes a companion. This pairing is one of the simplest, most effective ways women can protect their energy while still enjoying the ritual they love.

I didn’t always know this. After my daughter was born, I spent years fasting from 7pm until the next day around noon, relying on coffee and water to shed the weight my body had worked so hard to carry. While it worked on the surface, it came at a cost. My hormones were imbalanced, my energy inconsistent, and it took time to restore what I had unknowingly disrupted. Once I shifted - eating breakfast with my coffee instead of delaying nourishment - everything changed. My hormones stabilized. My energy became steady and reliable. I could manage my household, my business, and finish my creative work with clarity and ease without feeling depleted halfway through the day.

That lesson reshaped how I approach food and coffee entirely: nourishment first, stimulation second.

My Go-to Breakfast

Two eggs cooked in butter, anyway you like (I prefer sunny side up) paired with two breakfast sausage patties, 1/4 of an avocado, and to top it off, Rosi’s Hot Oil. We can’t forget about the bread! A side of homemade bread with butter and honey or strawberry jam is a great addition. Et voilà! You got a balanced breakfast paired with your amazing cup of coffee that will carry you through the day.

Brewing With Intention

That same intention carries into how I brew my coffee. I make pour overs often, and I rely on a precise ratio: one to sixteen. For every 16 grams of freshly ground coffee, I use 256 grams of water. This balance allows the coffee to fully express itself bold, clean, and layered without bitterness or heaviness.

Water quality matters just as much as the coffee. Filtered water will take your cup of coffee to the next level, allowing the natural flavors to shine. If filtered water isn’t available, glass bottled water with balanced minerality works well. Acqua Panna is my go to mineral rich water, or any water with a mineral content between 50 and 150 parts per million will do just fine. Coffee is mostly water, and when the water is right, everything else follows.

As I’ve learned over time, patience is just as essential as precision.

Coffee, like wine, evolves. I’ve slowly worked through a five pound bag over the course of three months, and with each passing week, it grew richer and more expressive as it degassed. It wasn’t old, it had simply developed and shed its CO2. New notes emerged, flavors I hadn’t known were waiting. Try this for yourself: return to the same bag once a week and notice how it opens, how it deepens. Coffee rewards those who give it time.

Grind size plays its own quiet role. For pour-over or drip, the grounds should resemble something between fine salt and coarse salt, with your grinder’s dial set near the middle. Too fine and the coffee feels heavy and over extracted; too coarse and it loses its depth and becomes thin and under extracted.

Speaking of grinders, they are essential. I prefer the consistency and uniformity from burr grinders. Having grind uniformity is imperative for even extraction. Whole beans hold their character far longer than pre ground coffee, and grinding just before brewing preserves everything you’ve waited for. Freshly ground coffee is where intention becomes tangible.

Precision completes the ritual. A food grade scale or coffee scale that measures to the tenth of a gram allows you to have the best cup of Joe you’ll ever have. Sometimes you don’t need exactly 32 grams, you need 32.2 grams. That .2 grams, my friends, really matter. You may not consciously notice the difference, but your palate understands. Small details matter. They always do.

The Comfort of Ritual

That first sip in the morning is still one of the most comforting moments of my day. Coffee is warm. It’s grounding. It carries no judgment. It’s both simple and endlessly complex, offering tasting notes we couldn’t have imagined a decade ago. It gives a kind of comfort you don’t realize you’re missing until it’s in your hands. There’s gratitude in that ritual in the privilege of enjoying coffee slowly in the morning, or again in the evening when it transforms into something playful and indulgent, like an espresso martini or a Carajillo.

Carajillo Recipe

• Equal parts Espresso (or bottled Espresso like Gerald’s Espresso) and Licor 43 over ice.

• Boil down the Licor 43 to make it non alcoholic (removes most of the alcohol, but traces may remain).

Coffee in the Kitchen

Coffee doesn’t stop at the cup, either. In our kitchen, it becomes something more, an ingredient, a catalyst, a way to deepen flavor and create something entirely new. It enhances chocolate, sharpens sweetness, and brings balance to rich desserts without overpowering them. Making an ordinary dessert, into something truly memorable.

As a baker committed to using whole ingredients, I value elements that nourish and serve both flavor and function. Coffee does exactly that. My family chocolate cake is a great example of just how talented coffee can be in a dessert. You wouldn’t even know it’s there. A quiet supporting player that enhances everything it touches and intensifies flavors with each bite.

Family Cake Recipe

A recipe by Sarah Sinclair of Mad Lab Coffee

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1¾ cups pure cane sugar

• ¾ cup cocoa powder

• (I use Dutch-processed)

• 2 cups gluten free flour or regular all purpose flour

• 1½ tsp baking soda

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 tsp cinnamon (a good starting point - I usually don’t measure it)

• ¾ cup olive oil

• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste

• 3 large eggs

• 1 cup milk of your choice

• ½ cup strongly brewed coffee (a 1:14 brew ratio does well)

Frosting:

• 2 packages cream cheese

• 2 sticks salted butter

• 3-4 cups powdered sugar, or to taste

• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste

• 1 cup cocoa powder

• ¼ cup heavy cream (optional)

Ganache:

• 226 grams finely chopped semi-sweet chocolate baking bars

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 3 tbsp sugar (if using dark chocolate)

Method

01 Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare your cake pans. Make your coffee and set aside to cool, covered.

02 Whisk together all dry ingredients in a large bowl

03 In a separate bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients, except coffee

04 Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Whisk until there are no more lumps. Then, add the coffee and mix until combined.

05 Bake for 30 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

06 Place all frosting ingredients in a bowl, except the heavy cream, and use a hand mixer or stand mixer. Mix until light and fluffy. Add the heavy cream and mix for just about 3 minutes. You don’t want to over mix. You may need to add just a little more powdered sugar.

07 (Optional) Heat the heavy cream and sugar (if added) to a simmer over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes. Gradually pour the hot cream over the finely chopped chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Let sit for about a minute to allow the chocolate to melt. Stir until combined and glossy. Use the ganache as a drizzle over your cake and between the layers. If you’re making both the ganache and frosting, halve the frosting recipe. Serve and enjoy!

Andrew and Sarah Sinclair are the owners of Mad Lab Coffee in Los Angeles, California, a specialty coffee roaster and café built on the belief that great coffee should be both deeply intentional and genuinely welcoming. Their approach blends rigorous craft, careful sourcing, precision roasting, and repeatable brewing standards with a hospitality-first experience that makes customers feel at home.

Andrew brings a systems-minded, technical lens to the work, obsessing over the variables that shape flavor from roast development and extraction metrics to water and equipment calibration so every cup is clean, expressive, and consistent. Sarah anchors the brand and the room, focusing on service, culture, and the details that turn a coffee stop into a place people return to: clarity, comfort, and connection.

Together, the Sinclairs have grown Mad Lab Coffee into a Los Angeles community staple equal parts craft and care where the work is serious, but the vibe is never pretentious.

This piece was first published in Issue 41 of the WARKITCHEN, explore the rest of the issue here. Enjoy the experience 🥂

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❋ Winter 25/26 Coffee Table Book (Print)

❋ Explore the full WARKITCHEN archive here.

❋ Got an article or recipe in mind? We’d love to hear more! Please send your pitch to rocky@warkitchen.net.

We need to bring back the home apothecary. Not as an alternative to modern medicine, but as a balm for everyday life.

This loss of plant literacy is just one of many ways we have eroded our connection to nature. Its disappearance signals a grim message: How little do we value ancestral wisdom these days? In a technology-obsessed world, we see new answers to our disconnected lives invented every day: red light panels, vibration plates, cold plunge tubs, hyperbaric oxygen chambers, and health-monitoring wearables. The list goes on. All of these expensive modalities aim to recreate, artificially, what we have removed from our daily lives. If you are dysregulated from spending all your time indoors, tech companies offer solutions that require no meaningful lifestyle change.

A consumerist echo of Brave New World. I have tried some of these interventions and see the benefit in specific contexts, but I don’t see them as ideal. I see them as substitutes for real sunsets, fresh air, unplugging, moving our bodies gracefully, and the nourishment we receive from being in touch with the living world.

Beneath the hum of machines and the glow of light panels, something older still waits for us. Not as a trend or a biohacking accessory, but as something we all inherit from our forebears. The best health practices invite us to live closer to nature and its rhythms. It seems painfully simple, but the path to wellness must be experienced. You cannot simply optimize and quantify your way there. It’s hard to imagine that any man-made device could rival the magic of discovering a wild patch of passionflower beneath a full moon on a summer night stroll. Centuries before our modern devices, there were kitchens lined with drying bundles of thyme and yarrow. Rosemary crushed by nonna’s bare fingers. Jars of olive oil infused with basil and raw sunlight. Elders who knew which root to dig after the first frost, which flower to steep for a restless mind, which bitter leaf to chew in early spring to wake the liver from winter’s sleep. The original technology of care, found in forests, fields, and the patient observation of generations. The art of the apothecary is about reclaiming plant wisdom in the modern world.

Building Your Home Apothecary

To build your own apothecary is to commune with nature and ancestral wisdom on a daily basis. It is to carry forward a tradition that empowers us to care for ourselves and each other. Modern medicine has immense value for acute needs; this is about participating in something older and steadier alongside it. Blending art and science. What follows is a starting point: the tools, the techniques, the herbs, and one recipe to begin with.

Tools Needed

Start simple! The absolute necessities for a beginner are jars to store your herbs and a French press to make tea. Then, you can build out from there as you explore the beautiful world of apothecary.

A working list:

• Glass jars with tight lids, for storing dried herbs

• Mason jars, for infusions and oils

• A French press, kept separate from your coffee setup (coffee oils cling to the mesh and will muddy the flavor of your tea)

• Mortar and pestle, for crushing and blending

• A small funnel, for transferring liquids

• Cheesecloth or a fine strainer

• Dark glass bottles, for tinctures and oils

• Labels and a pen, for marking ingredients and dates

Simple Preparations

These three techniques will take you a long way. Start with tea. Add infusions when you want to draw out minerals. Then, add tinctures when you want something shelf-stable for quick use.

Herbal Teas & Infusions

The easiest way to get started. A daily cup that provides nourishment and a chance to slow down. Begin with one herb at a time, to learn its properties and its flavor profile. Over time, you’ll develop a skill for blending them based on effect and taste, the same way you learn to cook.

• Simple Tea: Steep 1–2 tsp dried herb per cup of hot water for 5–10 minutes.

• Long Infusion: Cover 1/4 cup dried nettle or oatstraw with 2 cups boiling water. Steep 2–6 hours or overnight to extract minerals. Strain and enjoy.

• Bedtime Blend: Mix chamomile, lemon balm, and a pinch of lavender or rose. Steep 5–10 minutes for a relaxing evening ritual.

Tinctures (Alcohol Extracts)

As you feel ready, tinctures are a great way to advance your skillset with herbs. Tinctures are concentrated, shelf-stable, and excellent to have on hand when you need something immediate.

• Fill a dark glass jar halfway with dried herb.

• Cover with a neutral spirit at 80 proof or higher. Vodka works well for most dried herbs.

• Seal and shake daily for 4 to 6 weeks.

• Strain and transfer to a dark dropper bottle.

• Dosage: 1 to 2 mL, up to 3 times daily, or as advised by a practitioner.

A Note on Sourcing

Growing what you can is the ideal. For everything else, I get my bulk herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs and Frontier Co-op, along with some teas, extracts, and capsules from Gaia Herbs.

One of my fondest memories from my years managing a health food store was visiting Gaia Herbs during the summer for a tour of their farm, usually led by herbalist Mary Bove or the owner Ric Scalzo. After hours spent learning materia medica while walking through sunlit fields of echinacea in fresh mountain air, we would all sit down together for an organic lunch sourced directly from their garden. That is the feeling I want you to have with your own apothecary. Even a single jar of nettle on the shelf can be a beginning.

The Herbs

These are some of my favorite herbs to work with. The best place to start your own inventory is to educate yourself: learn what’s available in your region, what your ancestors worked with, and what could bring balance to any discomfort you are currently experiencing.

I’ve grouped them by what they tend to do, rather than alphabetically, to help you begin thinking like a herbalist.

Nourishing and Mineral-Rich

Nettle (Urtica dioica) is one of the most nutrient-dense herbs, containing calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, vitamin C, and vitamin K. A natural anti-histamine, it can help alleviate mild allergies and reduce fatigue by replenishing essential minerals. Nettle promotes bone health, healthy circulation, and strengthens hair, skin, and nails. A fresh infusion of nettle and oatstraw can feel like a herbal multivitamin.

Oatstraw (Avena sativa) is notable for high amounts of bioavailable calcium, magnesium, silica, iron, and manganese. It nourishes the nervous system, supports restful sleep, and can aid in recovery from stress or burnout. Its comfort reminds one of a warm bowl of oatmeal, with a mild, grassy, slightly sweet taste. Long infusions extract minerals and make a soothing daily tea.

For the Nervous System

Holy Basil / Tulsi (Ocimum tenuiflorum) is a revered adaptogen in Ayurvedic medicine. Tulsi helps modulate cortisol and balance stress response. Daily use can improve resilience to tension and promote emotional equilibrium.

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) is a gentle, uplifting herb known for calming the nervous system, easing stress, and supporting digestion. It can be steeped as a soothing tea, blended into bedtime infusions, or infused into oils and salves for a refreshing, aromatic touch. Its bright, lemony scent invites both comfort and clarity. It’s even revered for its uplifting quality in times of sadness and grief. I also love this herb in lemonade.

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is cherished for its calming and clarifying properties. It supports relaxation, eases tension, and can aid restful sleep. Lavender flowers can be steeped as tea, infused into oils or salves, or used in sachets and baths, making it a versatile herb for both body and spirit.

Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) is the classic bedtime herb. Gentle, slightly apple-like in flavor, and reliable. Chamomile soothes the digestive tract, eases mild anxiety, and is safe enough for daily use. It blends beautifully with lemon balm, lavender, or rose for evening rituals.

Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) is a calming herb traditionally used to support relaxation, reduce anxiety, and promote restful sleep. It can be steeped as a tea or incorporated into tinctures and blends. Its gentle, balancing effects make it a wonderful herb for evening rituals or moments of intentional calm.

For Resilience and Immunity

Astragalus (Astragalus membranaceus) has long been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to strengthen vitality and resilience. It gently supports the immune system as an immunomodulator, making it safe for daily use, unlike stronger immune stimulants that may overactivate the system.

Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) is a gentle immune-support herb, traditionally used to help the body stay resilient during seasonal changes. The root and aerial parts can be made into teas, tinctures, or infused oils. It’s versatile, mild, and safe for most, making it a perfect addition to a beginner’s apothecary for daily or occasional use.

Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) is a potent, antiviral herb often used to support the immune system during colds or flu. Elderberries must be cooked before use, as raw berries (and the plant’s leaves and bark) can cause nausea. Prepared as a syrup or cooked infusion, elderberry is rich in antioxidants and flavorful.

For the Gut

Peppermint (Mentha × piperita) is known for digestive support. An antispasmodic, it helps relax gastrointestinal muscles, ease cramping, reduce bloating, and alleviate discomfort from indigestion or IBS. Refreshing and invigorating, it’s perfect for an afternoon pick-me-up without caffeine.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a warming and invigorating root, celebrated for its digestive support, helping to ease nausea, reduce bloating, and stimulate circulation. It also has anti-inflammatory properties that can soothe mild aches and tension. Fresh or dried, ginger can be steeped as a tea, added to infusions, or incorporated into oils and tinctures, offering a gentle yet potent boost to both body and spirit. It can also be chopped and added to a hot bath during a cold or flu. Be mindful, a little goes a long way.

Marshmallow Root (Althaea officinalis) is historically used to soothe sore throats, calm coughs, and aid an inflamed digestive tract. It is hydrating and beneficial for dry skin or mucous membranes. Steeping it as a tea provides a gentle, sweet, soothing effect.

Sage (Salvia officinalis) is one of the oldest medicinal herbs in the Western tradition, used by the Greeks for memory and digestion and by medieval European apothecaries for nearly everything. It supports digestion, soothes sore throats, and has long been associated with mental clarity. A simple sage tea is grounding and slightly bitter, traditional for after a heavy meal.

For the Heart and Mind

Hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa) is known for its vibrant color and tart, refreshing flavor. Rich in antioxidants, it supports healthy blood pressure and cardiovascular function. It can be steeped as a cooling tea, blended with other herbs for a bright infusion, or used in syrups and tonics. I love making hibiscus tea ice cubes and throwing them into homemade lemonade. You can put rose petals into the ice cubes as well.

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) is valued for supporting cognitive function, circulation, and mental clarity. Due to its impact on circulation, it can help deliver oxygen to the brain. Its leaves can be made into teas or tinctures, offering gentle support for focus and memory. Ginkgo is versatile and well-suited for a home apothecary focused on daily wellness and mental vitality.

For Ritual and Restoration

Rose (Rosa spp.) is gentle and restorative, traditionally used to support emotional balance, soothe the digestive system, and promote radiant skin. Petals can be steeped as a calming tea, infused into oils for skin care, or blended into herbal baths and tonics. The fragrance alone invites a moment of mindfulness and ritual.

Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) is associated with sleep, dreams, and ceremonial use. It has a rich cultural history, from warding off fatigue in Roman soldiers to midsummer solstice rituals in Europe. Traditionally used to support deep sleep, vivid dreams, and occasional menstrual cycle balance. Best used ceremonially or in small amounts blended with calming herbs like chamomile.

Ginger Hibiscus Tea Recipe

Now that you have your jars, your French press, and a sense of what each herb might offer, here is a simple recipe to start with. A ginger hibiscus tea I come back to again and again: tart, warming, and easy to love.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, thinly sliced (dried also works, but I love fresh)

• 1 tablespoon dried hibiscus

• 3 to 4 cups hot water (a standard French press)

Method:

1. Add the ginger and hibiscus to a French press

2. Pour over hot water, cover, and steep for 10 to 15 minutes. Press and pour. Enjoy warm or chilled.

3. Sweeten with raw honey if you like.

This vibrant, tangy infusion supports cardiovascular health and healthy circulation. Ginger brings warmth and movement to the body, while hibiscus offers a cooling, antioxidant-rich balance. Enjoy hot or iced!

Tending your own apothecary restores a dialogue with the living world. It asks that we slow down, touch, smell, and steep. That we notice the subtle changes in plants, the shifts in season, and the quiet lessons of nature that unfold when we are present. In doing so, we reconnect with the rhythms that have nurtured humans for millennia, preserving the sacred knowledge of plants for ourselves and future generations.

Herbal medicine is a ritual. Each cup of tea, each jar of infused oil, each carefully dried leaf is an invitation to return to traditions our ancestors have carefully sowed. Traditions steeped in history, ceremony, and the enduring magic of the earth itself.

Mary’s Substack

My personal Substack

By Mary Beth

Mary Beth Arthur is a Nutrition Therapy Practitioner whose work explores the meeting place between bioenergetic nutrition, ancestral wisdom, and the rhythms of the natural world. Her background weaves together the healing arts and creative practice, shaping a perspective that values both science and intuition.

She manages a wellness studio, writes for pleasure, studies languages, and loves playing jazz piano in her free time. At home in the foothills of North Carolina, she tends to a small world of books, herbs, vintage clothes, and rescue animals.

Though she is chronically offline, you can sometimes find her posting on Instagram as @metabolic.marybeth or on Substack as @marybeth777, but she’s probably in her secret garden reading a good book.

This piece was first published in Issue 41 of the WARKITCHEN, explore the rest of the issue here. Enjoy the experience 🥂

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❋ Winter 25/26 Coffee Table Book (Print)

❋ Explore the full WARKITCHEN archive here.

❋ Got an article or recipe in mind? We’d love to hear more! Please send your pitch to rocky@warkitchen.net.

Alexandria holds the Mediterranean Sea close to itself on the Egyptian coast, less by geography than by affection. Beyond coastline, the beachfront is a long, tan arm in a loving embrace with its muse.

The sea was my first impression of Alexandria: an inspiring stretch of blue that ancient kingdoms, scholars, and artisans eagerly unraveled from distant lands to end up here - Alexandria, the bride of the Mediterranean and an ancient city
of striking contrasts.

Because of this ongoing romance, whoever visits Alexandria stays in two places at once: in Egypt and on the Mediterranean. Each is its own distinct pleasure. Stay on Corniche Street, the city’s historic waterfront promenade, and this becomes especially clear.

My native Alexandrian mother-in-law booked us a suite at the Four Seasons San Stefano when we came to town following two weeks of cross-country travel. She never stays anywhere else when she comes back home, and her favoritism makes sense - this waterfront estate was the closest I could get to the world she was raised in, when Alexandria was Egypt’s European capital.

The San Stefano carries a unique romance, the echo of beloved history. Maybe that’s what makes it so quintessentially Alexandrian. Italian, French, and Arabic elements are cleverly woven throughout each room and adorn the immaculate halls. Cultural influences are distinct, yet intermarried: Greek icons stylize the master shower tile; bedrooms display Italian still lifes. The lobby ceilings resembled clement skies, reminiscent of ancient temples I’d seen in Upper Egypt.

Multicultural elegance defined Alexandria for centuries. 2,000 years ago, it was the world’s very first ‘cosmopolis.’ Its mid-20th century golden age saw a blended population of highly cultured citizens from all backgrounds, even fostering a rich literary scene through writers like E.M. Forster, Lawrence Durrell, and Constantine Cavafy.

Mediterranean views surely contributed to such a lively, creative populace. Our first early morning, I stood on the balcony and ached to touch the water. I needed to feel the difference between this sea and the Red Sea I’d swam in just days before. From the underground tunnel leading to the estate’s private beach, I eagerly shed my cover-up and leapt straight into the waves.

The water was rowdier, cooler, and satisfying in a way I know was simply a product of perception - it felt like floating in a living ruin. I had yet to discover that the entire city feels that way.

Today in Iskandereya, ..... Alexander the Great is an afterthought, if anything at all.

In a modern metropolis gleaming with ancient history, it seems like he came to conquer, name everything, and die. Alexandria’s oldest world-famous sites, the Great Library and the Pharos Lighthouse, were built in his absence and have since outpaced his legacy.

These ancient wonders have been lovingly remade in different forms. They encourage tourism while also stoking Alexandrian-even Egyptian-pride, resting in part on the era of Hellenistic rule that Alexander the Great ushered in. I was excited to see Alex’s history for myself, and my tour guide, Amgad, was proud to show it off on an extended tour across the city.

Alexandria announced itself to the ancient world, quite literally, with the world’s first lighthouse. The Pharos, commissioned by Ptolemy I Soter, was said to be visible 35 miles from shore.

After the pyramids, it was the tallest structure in the world for centuries. Fire blazed bright at its estimated 300-foot top, and polished mirrors guided sailors by day through the dangerous, shallow harbor.

The Pharos fell into the sea after a series of earthquakes across centuries. Eventually the Citadel of Qaitbay, a 15th-century fortress built to shield Alexandria from naval threats, used some of the very same stones.

Today, the Citadel stands where the lighthouse once was.

The fortress is striking, a staple on the tourist circuit. Glancing through narrow arrowslits on a guided tour, one hopes that the view wasn’t too different from the one ancient tourists enjoyed while exploring the Lighthouse’s many floors.

Missing from this view is Cleopatra VII’s luxurious 100-room palace, located across from the Lighthouse. Diving is a viable option, however, if you want to see the underwater remnants yourself.

Ships flocked to Alexandria from across the ancient world, though none could dock in Alexandria’s port without agreeing to one caveat: relinquish all books on board to be copied and cataloged.

Before Alexandria, Greek intellectuals only dreamt of a library that had all the world’s knowledge. Through the Ptolemies, they finally got their chance. The famous Library of Alexandria came to fruition as part of the Mouseion, a university and research institute named for the nine Greek ‘Muses’ of the arts.

This established Alexandria as an intellectual hub, large enough to rival Athens. Scholars, poets, and scientists received academic funding to study using the world’s greatest collection of resources.

Even Cleopatra herself studied at the Mouseion. After Julius Caesar accidentally started a fire there, signaling the beginning of its end, Mark Antony gifted her 200,000 scrolls to replenish the damaged collection.

Just as the Lighthouse would ultimately crumble into the sea, the Library of Alexandria famously fell into disrepair, triggered by several fires and eventual defunding. To preserve its well-known legacy, efforts to rebuild the library began in 1995 and were completed in 2002.

The modern Biblioteca Alexandrina is a point of national pride. No longer bridging Greece to Egypt, it bridges the ancient world to the modern. Situated where the original library is thought to be, college students and tourists flood this massive tribute, created to educate and showcase.

It’s an impressive feat. When I entered the glass-walled viewpoint for the first time and noticed seemingly endless rows of desks and shelves, all equally full, it genuinely took my breath away. I had the privilege of meeting both Biblioteca Alexandrina’s manager and its director of antiquities before going on a private tour through the massive space. Their designated event writer, a thoughtful woman my same age named Khadija, kindly accompanied me throughout the visit. Each of them had a contagious zeal for the library’s positive influences on Egypt and on the world at large.

Visiting the Biblioteca Alexandrina reminded me of humanity’s thirst for endless knowledge, not just for education, but to possess. It’s easy to lose what we don’t use.

No single fire destroyed the Great Library like we mythologize - the center of learning collapsed through defunding and neglect. Burning books make for a compelling image, but precious information is lost far more often when a culture simply turns away from it.

The internet is our Great Library now. Between social media’s preeminence and the growing hold of Artificial Intelligence in our daily lives, we must remember what wisdom stands to be lost in the tides of each generational wave, ignored into nonexistence.

Walking through pedestrian-clogged streets to the sound of a prayer call ringing over loudspeakers, my tour guide Amgad and I discovered we were the same age. Conversation flowed easily between us while a kind but reticent driver whisked us through the city, from the Citadel by the sea toward Roman ruins underground. Thanks to the universality of Internet culture - the intermixing of the modern world - we were able to joke about topics like dating apps and Taylor Swift between discussing the significance of each stop. However trivial such talking points were, they gave us common ground to share.

Rome understood the importance of shared customs. Bringing their own beliefs to the area, Romans adopted some local beliefs, too, in an effort to mesh with Greek and Egyptian Alexandrians. Made for a single wealthy family during
Roman rule, the Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa preserve this cultural meshing through its rare synthesis of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian art styles.

Ancient Egyptian gods like Anubis and Isis appear on the walls in Roman garb, painted beside Hellenistic motifs. On another wall, Hades is shown abducting the Greek goddess Persephone. The blended art styles reflect the catacombs’ unique mix of customs: mummified bodies were buried beside chariot horses. The horses were honored in death for their use in Roman gladiatorial games.

This decorative necropolis sat undisturbed for centuries until it was discovered by pure chance in 1900. “A donkey fell into it,” Amgad mentioned. Yet another legendary fall.

Serendipity uncovered several Roman ruins in Alexandria. A team of Polish-Egyptian archaeologists dug into a hill of dirt in 1959 while looking for Alexander the Great’s tomb - the site is still named Kom-El-Dikka, or “Hill of Rubble.”

Beneath the hill, they found an entire Roman civic center with gymnasia, a bath complex, and twenty auditoriums.

The ruins reveal designated spaces for higher education, entertainment, and socializing. Based on the acoustics of the Roman theatre, if you stand and speak where the sign indicates, your voice echoes loudly. It’s thought to have been used for concerts, lectures, and small-scale plays. The rocky auditoriums might’ve been used as classrooms, but in their lack of adornment, it’s difficult to tell.

Meanwhile, adornment defines a once-luxurious apartment space only a short walk away. The sole survivor of three villas in the area’s residential space, ruins known as “The Villa of the Birds” retain intricate and colorful artworks from the Roman era.

Mosaics served as an elegant status display in the Roman world, as beautiful as they were expensive. Dating back to the 2nd century, most of the villa collapsed in a sweeping fire. The soot-blackened floor mosaics, restored by art conservators, revealed four panels showing nine colorful bird species, including ducks, pigeons, and peacocks.

Roman life once flourished in the heart of downtown Alexandria, and this area remains dedicated to its memory today. The popular Greco-Roman Museum holds 40,000 antiquities recovered around the region, showcasing an era best defined by the intertwined cultures of its ruling class.

Here, Amgad walked me through the dramatic end of both Pharaohs and Ptolemies via Cleopatra, as well as the alliances between the last queen and Mark Antony that eventually led to a Roman takeover of Alexandria.

Through her fall, this Greek imperial capital became Greco-Roman.

Surviving imperial art helps illustrate such power shifts. Marble statues, like mosaics, served to flaunt the wealth, prestige, and even faces of those in power. Rulers might’ve hoped for their likenesses to withstand the ages, but most importantly, their patronage helped propagandize their beliefs - especially their gods - during their lifetimes.

Among dozens of marble artifacts, we repeatedly encountered the figure of Serapis, a Greek and Egyptian combo-god invented by the Ptolemies.

Greeks modeled Serapis after Zeus, Osiris, and Apis (the name derived from Osiris + Apis), represented as both man and bull. This “syncretic deity” ensured Greek control and intercultural harmony.

Serapis would benefit the Romans in similar ways during their rule, appearing in their Pantheon and even on imperial coins on display at the museum.

Roman soldiers and even several emperors furthered the “cult of Serapis” until the 4th century, when Emperor Theodosius I established Nicene Christianity as Egypt’s official religion.

Ancient Alexandria withstood continuous waves of dominating forces across the centuries, but eventually, these waves slowed. Egypt came under Islamic control 1,300 years ago - modern Egypt, Alexandria included, is defined by it.

Unity is difficult when the largest religious minority, Coptic Orthodox Christians, constitutes only ten to fifteen percent of the population. Still, Muslims I spoke with emphasized that both populations worship the same god, as Arabic-speaking Egyptians all pray to Allah.

The ancient world glimmers beneath the bustle of modern Egyptian life. 2026’s Alexandria is a melting pot of Egyptian, Greek, Arab, and European cultures. My mother-in-law spoke English to me but used Arabic, French, and German with everyone else.

However obsolete, Alexander the Great’s namesake still pays tribute to the region’s deep Greek roots; charming old clothes for a civilization that’s mostly outgrown its Hellenistic, worldly youth. Alexandria shares a striking
likeness with Athens: urban chaos written over civilization’s most famous blueprints.

The “chaos” one finds here is exciting, beautiful even, but for an American accustomed to space, such excitement takes getting used to. Most of my culture shocks were shaken out in Cairo: fearing for the lives of bold jaywalkers strolling through traffic, recognizing honking as a secret regional language, and witnessing stray animals of all kinds navigating the streets. When I encountered these in Alex, they were few and far between.

Art Deco buildings established during its 19th- and 20th-century golden era look timeworn. Most cars and buses are older models and often have a fair share of scuffs. Quality items from the past are preserved and reused. This tendency can be observed even down to little things: café chairs, market stalls, and bicycles.

Things aren’t needlessly replaced but mended if still usable. I’m reminded of the G.K. Chesterton quote, “Thrift is poetic because it is creative; waste is unpoetic because it is waste.” Like any big city, there’s some waste - but Alexandria’s thrift has a unique charm I wish I saw more often in my country.

Simply driving around town is its own special experience. There’s always something to see. Streetside vendors sell flip-flops, called “shib-shibs,” by singing discounts over loudspeakers; passersby purchase jewel-red pomegranates and plump guavas off tuk-tuk truck beds; pedestrians weave through lines of cars on their phones so nonchalantly, they look bored.

I was fortunate enough to meet members of my mother-in-law’s own family - aunts, cousins, and even old friends. Egyptians express love through food, Mom said. And I miss their love dearly: ful (fava bean) sandwiches; hot Turkish coffee with crunchy, sweet kunafa; layers of bready fateer drizzled in tahini and molasses for breakfast (or dessert).

I even tried pigeon, a 3,000-year-old Egyptian delicacy. Stuffed with grains, sultanas, and almonds, the roasted bird is the size of a Cornish game hen, thin-skinned, and remarkably tasty.

Had we only stuck to exploring history, we would’ve missed the many joys of exploring modern Alexandria. A highlight was the afternoon that Cousin Rita led us on an impromptu tour of churches and cathedrals, threading through crowded modern neighborhoods - Mansheya, Port Said, and Ibrahimeya - revealing a whole other side of the metropolis.

Each unique sanctuary was well-maintained, some with their own gardens, by kind-eyed people I couldn’t share more than faith and a “thank you” with.

Like any ruin, Alexandria’s age is double-edged. Memory and history make it beautiful, but in its decay, the ache of something lost reveals itself. The port city boasts the largest population on the Mediterranean coast and the second-highest population density in Egypt. In other words, crowding is unavoidable, and congestion and pollution risk tarnishing the beauty of what once was.

But this is a beauty that can’t be altered to fit an ideal. Layers of rich history are only possible from an enduring multiculturalism, fueled by its romantic nearness to the sea. Through swimming in the Mediterranean, connecting with locals, and observing Alexandria’s many layers of history, any mindful tourist will find themselves nostalgic for this city of paradox.

coffee w/ constanze

essays on travel, culture, and passion.

By constanze price

Constanze Price writes Coffee w/ Constanze, where she shares essays on travel, culture and passion. Explore her work and subscribe here.

This piece was first published in Issue 41 of the WARKITCHEN, explore the rest of the issue here. Enjoy the experience 🥂

If you enjoyed this, you’ll enjoy Constanze’s piece on The World’s Most Luxurious Sauna, where she takes you around the iconic Castel Fragsburg.

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Food is never just food. It is story, memory, labor, sunlight, soil. It is an exchange of energy so ordinary we forget how radical it is: something once alive becomes part of us, shaping bone and blood, fueling thought and movement.

And yet, how often do we rush through meals without noticing? We eat standing up, fork in one hand, phone in the other. We scroll, we scroll, we scroll, barely tasting what passes our lips. The act of eating, the most ancient communion between human and earth, has been reduced to background noise.

To bless your food is to resist that speed. To bless your food is to pause, to remember that this plate in front of you is a miracle of processes, people, and places. It is to see that every bite carries a story.

Food as Energy, Not Just Nutrition

Modern nutrition language reduces food to numbers: calories, grams, percentages. But food has always been more than its chemical parts. It is energy condensed in matter, sunlight transformed into sugars, minerals carried from soil into leaf, muscle built from grain.

That energy carries memory. A tomato ripened in midsummer sun has a different pulse than one plucked unripe and shipped across oceans. A loaf of bread made by hand feels alive in a way that factory bread never can. Even if science struggles to measure it, we can feel the difference.

Blessing food is a way of tuning into that energy. It is saying:
I acknowledge the life within you. I receive you with respect.

The Pause as Discipline

Hunger makes us impatient. The smell of roasting garlic, the sight of a steaming bowl - instinct tells us to dig in. To bless your food is to resist that instinct, if only for a moment. The pause is its own discipline: not punishing, not ascetic, but grounding. That brief resistance, waiting before you take the first bite, strengthens the muscle you use to breathe before reacting in anger, or to hold silence before speaking something you can’t take back. The meal becomes training for life itself.

And in that pause, you might notice details you would otherwise miss: the way steam curls upward, the colors of roasted vegetables, the way your own hunger sharpens your senses. Waiting, even briefly, makes the meal feel more alive.

“A tomato ripened in midsummer sun has a different pulse than one plucked unripe and shipped across oceans. A loaf of bread made by hand feels alive in a way that factory bread never can. Even if science struggles to measure it, we can feel the difference.”

Gratitude as Transformation

Gratitude changes the meal. It shifts the energy of a table. A simple bowl of rice, when received with thanks, feels richer than a feast eaten in distraction.

Across cultures, this has always been known. In Japan, Itadakimasu is spoken before eating, an acknowledgment of everything and everyone that made the meal possible. In Christian households, grace is said, giving thanks to God. Many Indigenous traditions offer words to the animals and plants, to the water and the land.

Different words, same gesture: to eat with awareness is to honor life itself. Gratitude becomes its own seasoning, one that transforms not just the flavor of the food but the way your body absorbs it. When you eat with thanks, digestion softens, the nervous system calms, and the body opens to receive.

Stories in Every Bite

Blessing food also means recognizing that every bite carries a lineage. Wheat was once a wild grass. Cacao was once sacred medicine. Salt was once currency, fought over and worshipped. Our ingredients arrive on our tables through centuries of cultivation, conquest, migration, and exchange.

To acknowledge those histories doesn’t make the meal heavy; it makes it luminous. It reminds us that food is a living archive. Every ingredient has traveled through time and space to be here, now, sustaining you.

Even the most ordinary foods hold extraordinary journeys. A morning cup of coffee contains entire economies, harvests in distant lands, hands that picked and processed beans, ships that crossed oceans. A piece of bread contains thousands of years of human experimentation with grains, fermentation, and fire. To bless your food is to taste these histories with every bite.

Eating as Spiritual Practice

When you bless your food, you begin to see eating as more than a physical necessity. It becomes a spiritual practice. You’re reminded, multiple times a day, that you’re connected to something larger: the earth, the cycles of growth and decay, the web of people who labor to make food possible, the mystery of life itself.

Meals become altars. Plates become offerings. The table itself becomes a sacred space where the ordinary reveals its depth.

It doesn’t matter what tradition you come from, or whether you claim any tradition at all. The act of blessing food belongs to everyone. It is as universal
as hunger.

How to Bless Your Food

There is no single right way to bless your food. Ritual is not about perfection but presence. What matters is intention, the willingness to pause, acknowledge, and receive.

For some, the gesture will be silent and inward. For others, spoken words feel more alive. Some may prefer imagery, others prayer, others the simple act of stillness. What matters is that you meet the meal with awareness. Here are a few ways the practice might unfold.

The Silent Pause

Close your eyes. Take a slow breath. Place your hands near your food or simply rest them in your lap. Let your awareness soften toward gratitude, even if only for a few seconds.

Words of Thanks

Whisper or think a quiet acknowledgment. It might be as simple as a Thank You to the earth, the farmers, the plants, animals, and all the hands that brought this meal to you.

Visualization

Imagine your food glowing with light, infused with energy that will nourish not just your body but your spirit. See the vitality moving into you.

Prayer or Mantra

If you walk a spiritual path, you might recite a prayer from your tradition. Or create your own mantra, a phrase that anchors you in gratitude, like, May this meal sustain me in peace.

Communal Ritual

When sharing a table, invite others into a shared moment. A silence held together can feel like a collective blessing, deepening not only your connection to the food but to each other.

These gestures do not require candles, altars, or elaborate ceremony. They require only presence. Even a single conscious breath before eating can transform the meal.

The Ripple Effect

What begins at the table does not end there. The discipline of pausing before food makes it easier to pause in life. Gratitude spoken at the plate makes gratitude easier in other moments. Eating with reverence makes living with reverence that much more possible.

Over time, blessing your food reshapes your relationship with nourishment. Meals stop being interruptions in the day and become touchstones of presence. Food becomes not just fuel but teacher.

And perhaps that is the quiet power of this practice: it returns the sacred to the everyday. Not through grand gestures, but through small moments of noticing. Through remembering that life is always feeding life, and that every bite is part of that endless exchange.

The practice of blessing food is not about belief, performance, or obligation. It is about remembering.

Remembering that food is alive.Remembering that someone’s hands harvested what you now hold. Remembering that sunlight and soil are in every bite. Remembering that this, right here, is sustenance.

Bless your food, and you bless yourself. Bless your food, and you bless the world that made it possible. Because food has always been sacred. We’ve only forgotten. Blessing it is how we remember.

Larissa Olczak writes The Back Forty, a curated guide connecting people to stewards of the land. Every Friday she interviews those that grow, protect, and work with land and animals. Explore more at findbackforty.com. You can also find Larissa on Instagram @wellbylarissa.

This piece was first published in Issue 41 of the WARKITCHEN, explore the rest of the issue here. Enjoy the experience 🥂

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Sleep training has become so normalized that questioning it can feel taboo. It’s often framed as a necessary rite of passage, something parents must endure for the sake of routine, productivity, or independence. But when you pause and really look at what’s being asked of babies and their mothers, something doesn’t quite sit right.

After decades of being told that crying it out is just a “rite of passage” for babies, a growing chorus of mothers are questioning the narrative. In this article, Madison Tylak of the Tallow Twins makes the case that biology, not convenience, should set the terms, and that what we call a sleep problem might not be a problem at all.

What feels most unsettling to me is that sleep training asks babies to sit alone with their distress in the dark - not because their need for comfort is unreasonable, but because it’s been labeled inconvenient. We ask them to “self-soothe” before they are able to perceive themselves as separate from the woman who grew them. Before their nervous systems are mature enough to regulate anything on their own. Before they have language, context, or the ability to understand why the person that they believe they are a part of suddenly isn’t there.

To put it simply, babies do not experience themselves as separate from their mother. Neurologically and biologically, they are one system. An infant’s nervous system is profoundly immature and relies entirely on co-regulation - through touch, voice, smell, oxytocin, warmth, and proximity. When a baby cries, they aren’t “manipulating you.” It’s not a bad habit. It’s simply the only way they know how to communicate. It’s their way of saying: I’m overwhelmed. I’m tired. I’m scared. I need you. Expecting a tiny nervous system that’s still under construction to manage that distress alone is something we would never ask of an adult. Most of us don’t handle exhaustion well even with fully developed brains, coping tools, and words. So why do we expect more from infants?

The idea that leaving a baby to cry teaches independence misunderstands how regulation actually develops. Self-soothing isn’t a skill babies possess, it only emerges years later as the brain matures and after a child has experienced consistent comfort and safety. Crying alone doesn’t teach regulation. The body eventually quiets, not because it feels safe, but because it has learned that help isn’t coming.

Perhaps the reason sleep training feels so widespread isn’t because it’s biologically sound, but because it fits neatly into a culture that values productivity over presence and independence over attachment. A culture that asks mothers to override instinct, to doubt their bodies, and to ignore the instinctual knowing that responding to their baby feels right. Any mother on the planet knows that primal response that arises in their body when they hear a baby cry.

Maybe the answer has been in front of us all along... Maybe babies wake because they’re meant to. Maybe they call out because connection is a beautifully designed feature.

Maybe what they need in those moments isn’t a lesson, but rather their mother. Besides, this season is not forever, and you’ll miss those moments of snuggling your sweet little human.

Maybe it’s time for us to reconsider what we’ve been told to be “normal,” and to remember that biology doesn’t bend to trends. When we view infant sleep through the lens of nervous system development, attachment, and human design, a different perspective emerges, perhaps one that feels more intuitive, more humane, and deeply aligned with how our babies are meant to grow.

Sometimes the most radical thing we can do is trust what feels true.

Madison Tylak is a radical birth keeper and the co-founder of Tallow Twins. Explore more of her work on Instagram @madsbirthwork & @tallowtwins. Use code WARKITCHEN20 for 20% off site-wide at tallowtwins.ca.

This piece was first published in Issue 41 of the WARKITCHEN, explore the rest of the issue here. Enjoy the experience 🥂

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You can tell a lot about someone from the type of coffee they order. A frappuccino regular is a very different person from someone who only drinks a refined dark roast espresso.

Coffee reveals who you are (yes, it’s actually that deep). The cup, the method, the time of day, the temperature you take it at. Every choice says something, whether you realize it or not. And these days, everyone has a take. Our last coffee tier list was certainly controversial, and some of you complained that it wasn’t quite authentic enough.

So we decided to get some help. And who better than our friends at Graffeo Coffee, San Francisco's oldest independent coffee roaster, for not just a tier list but 25 Maxims for Coffee from Luciano Repetto himself, who has been roasting coffee for decades.

Before we show you the different tiers, here are a few words from Luciano, Graffeo Coffee’s legendary operator, when asked what’s the best coffee:

“The best method is the method that gives you the satisfaction that you want. So if you enjoy the taste of drip coffee, it should be drip for you. The best method is what you enjoy. There is no single answer. It’s what makes you enjoy the pleasure of tasting a great cup of coffee.” — by Luciano Repetto of Graffeo. Simply the World’s Finest Coffee.

Reminder, this is all done in good fun and based on collective opinion!

What’s your favorite coffee? Let us know what makes S tier for you in the comments below.

And of course, a tier list can only say so much. Luciano has spent decades thinking about coffee in ways that don't fit neatly into S, A, B, C, D. So here are his 25 maxims for coffee. Some you’ll agree with completely. Others will sting. But they’re all worth reading, especially if coffee is something you genuinely love.

Luciano’s 25 Maxims for Coffee:

1. Drinking cappuccinos in the afternoon is a mortal sin. It’s sacrilege. After 10 o’clock in the morning, cappuccino is a no-no.

2. The perfect roast is best described as “no bitterness.” Bitterness is completely objectionable and not what coffee is about.

3. Espresso means rapid in Italian. It’s supposed to be a quick way to make coffee. Yet with all these new coffee trends and “coffee nerds,” it’s taking them ten minutes to make one cup of coffee. That’s the slowest espresso I’ve ever seen.

4. The right water temperature for brewing coffee is below boiling. Water boils at 212°F. 185-190°F is perfect.

5. Single origin doesn’t mean it’s always better. In fact, blends allow you the opportunity for continuity with the flavor profile you’re building. With any agricultural product, flavor profile varies so when you use a single origin the flavor profile changes.

6. Fluid bed roasting allows you to roast coffee via convection, not conduction, which largely reduces the likelihood of charred beans.

7. Quality absolutely matters. You have to buy the absolute best product available on the market. There’s simply no way around it. If you have very low quality coffee and you roast it in a very sloppy way, you’re gonna have the kind of product that is all over the supermarket shelves in those wonderful tin cans.

8. A well made espresso is NOT a tall cup with a lot of water in it. The more water you add to it, the worse it gets. The shorter the espresso, the better.

9. The best decafs are made with The Swiss Water Process, which is the only way we do decaf here at Graffeo. It’s a 100% chemical-free method using only water, temperature, and time removing caffeine and preserving flavor. We have never served chemically decaffeinated coffee.

10. You have to be very careful when you’re making drip coffee. Paper filters don’t work that well for this. They tend to impart a bit of their own flavor into the brew, and they trap oils. When you discard that paper filter with the spent grinds still in it, you’re also discarding flavor. If you were to make drip coffee at home, I would highly suggest using a metal filter instead.

11. The best coffees leave you wanting a second cup, not tired of the first.

12. Drinking coffee out of a paper cup is an absolute sin. When you put a hot cup of coffee in a paper cup, you get a smell of cardboard. If you're buying coffee out, enjoy it in the café. There's nothing like drinking coffee out of a nice porcelain or a beautiful glass cup.

13. Use filtered water when you make coffee. It doesn’t have to be bottled water like what our friends at Loonen make (though it would definitely elevate the coffees you make at home), but you should always use water that’s perfectly palatable.

14. Flavored coffee is a sin. Coffee is supposed to taste like coffee. Not walnuts, strawberries, chocolate, or cherries!

15. What does a cup of Graffeo coffee actually taste like? Well, it should have no bitterness whatsoever. You should be able to smell the actual beauty of it, and the flower of the bean itself. It should have no acrid aftertaste. It should be a multi-sensual experience. Aromatic through your nose, and it should also caress your tastebuds on the way down.

16. Never use Robusta. It makes very horrible tasting, acrid, inexpensive coffee.

17. “First or second crack” is basically meaningless when you’re roasting coffee. All coffee cracks at different temperatures. The question is, are you roasting it accurately?

18. You don’t want to freeze coffee. Freezing naturally dries things out. And when you dry things out, you lose the oils. When you lose oils, you lose flavor. Very simple.

19. Color is never indicative of how much roasting you’ve done because coffee roasts from the inside out. This means the outside color only shows how much damage you’ve done to the outside of the bean. It doesn’t tell you how much you’ve roasted it.

20. There is only ONE thing to do when you make Moka pot coffee (besides using Graffeo). Keep the temperature of the heat moderate. Medium-low. Do not use high temperatures.

21. When you make pour-over coffee, always use metal coffee filters. If you must use a paper filter, use a Chemex filter. I’m not endorsing any products here but you see, most paper filters trap the oil. When you discard the paper filters, you’re discarding oil, and flavor.

22. There is a very slight benefit to refrigerating your coffee beans at home. You see, coffee is essentially oils. If you leave coffee beans exposed to the air, the oils get rancid and oxidized. The best way to stop that is to keep your beans in a container with a tight seal, with a lid and refrigerate it. You want to keep your beans cold and dry, so the oils don’t go rancid.

23. Coarse grind for a French press. Fine (but not powdered) grind for Moka. With drip, it depends on the filter you’re using.

24. There are several things that make a French press great. Never use boiling water. Before you plunge, you must always stir the concoction. That is, you put your hot water into the coffee, then you stir it. Wait about a minute or two (no longer) and then plunge. And of course, always use Graffeo coffee.

25. Whenever we take coffee out of the roaster, we always ask ourselves, “Would I drink this? Would I take this home?” And if the answer is no, then we shouldn’t sell it.

What are some of your personal maxims, or rules for coffee? Share them in the comments below.

Affogato Sundays

You need to be viciously spreading affogato propaganda

Your connection with food

Once you rewire your relationship with food, it all just hits different.

Get your spark back

Take the long drive to that bakery with perfect pain au chocolat. Walk to your favorite café and enjoy sun-kissed affogato (even if it’s not on the menu). Treat yourself to the best ribeye you’ve ever seen. Make oyster fridays a thing. Learn to bake banana bread this weekend. Toddler maxx and eat a dozen blueberries. Drizzle raw honey everywhere. Indulge in a cool iced matcha. Eat your gelato. Sometimes, you just need a little something to get your spark back.

Issue 41

Ladies and gents, we’re so back! No print issue this spring, but the next best thing is a curated digital featuring some of our favorite people.

Fruits for May

Fruits for May! This might just be the best lineup so far. What are you looking forward to? 😆

❋ Blueberry Sourdough Poptarts

“Incredible blueberry sourdough poptarts filled with homemade blueberry jam and topped with a naturally sweet frosting. These easy and nutritious sourdough pop tarts taste just like blueberry pie and will be your new favorite treat for spring and summer!

Pop-tarts were one of my favorite childhood snacks.

I always had mine warm and toasted.

And if you like poptarts, you will love my Frosted Blueberry Sourdough Poptarts. They’re made with simple REAL ingredients like blueberries, raw honey, and whole wheat flour. Plus, a natural fermentation with sourdough starter makes them delicious and nutritious all at the same time.”

❋ Coffee House Culture by

“It’s hard to put a date on the origins of coffee house culture. You would be forgiven for thinking that it started in the early noughties, with the invention of the MacBook and the explosion of ‘third-wave’ coffee establishments. However, you would be way off the mark, because Western coffee houses began to pop up in the mid-seventeenth century.

It all started in Venice, Italy, which was an important trading port for the Ottoman Empire. Coffee beans were a luxury import from the East, along with other exotic goods like silk and spices. Initially, coffee houses were just an Italian thing, but because the brew was so addictive, by the mid-seventeenth century the coffee-drinking habit had spread across Europe.

The Dutch cultivated beans in Indonesia; the French, in the Caribbean; and the British farmed coffee pretty much all over the Empire. So… great though coffee is, it is worth remembering that it has always been a political commodity entangled with systems of slavery, trade, and empire.” —

❋ Grapefruit Coconut Paloma Mocktail by

“Refreshingly sweet and tangy, this drinkie is zero-proof and 100 percent delicious! Many thanks to Mindful Mocktail for the Perfect Paloma Mocktail recipe, to which I made adaptations.

Notes:

• Fresh grapefruit and lime juices are always going to yield a tastier drink, but if you don’t have access to them, go with a good-quality bottled version.

• If you don’t like or don’t have agave, use a simple syrup or other liquid sweetener of your choice.

• My favorite apple cider vinegar is Bragg’s, but use what you like.” —

❋ How to Make Olive Oil Ice Cream

“Want to make ice cream at home with a wine country twist? Learn how to make olive oil ice cream with our easy, step-by-step video, including recipes and instructions. The addition of a fine extra virgin olive oil gives the ice cream a richer, almost buttery taste. Jordan Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil is always on hand in our kitchen, and high-quality olive oils have a richness and complexity that brings additional depth of flavors to ice cream, as well as myriad health benefits. The Jordan olive oil’s elegant buttery texture and notes of citrus, flower blossoms and pepper give this simple homemade ice cream recipe a unique, gourmet flavor your guests will love.”

❋ Mango and Cream Semifreddo by

“ For today’s newsletter, I have developed a recipe that highlights the prized qualities of the Alphonso Mango in the only preparation acceptable beyond ripe and raw: cold and creamy. In a nod to the iconic Weis Bar we will be making a semifreddo with a layer of ‘sorbet’ and a layer of cream infused with the mango skins and stones. This is a technique that I first used for the Scratch menu at Spring.

I was struck by their aroma hanging in the air, simply from sitting sliced on a chopping board. That can only mean one thing; volatile flavour compounds which we can capture in dairy. Infusing your skins and stones not only imparts the mangos’ fragrance, it helps to wash off every last drop of juice and flesh from the fruit. Think of it like rinsing out a tin of tomatoes with water and adding it to your sauce.

The Alphonso is particularly suited to this technique not just because of its flavour; it is smaller than other mangos varieties and so has a high ratio of skin and stone to flesh. This is a technique commonly used for Damsons as a similarly high-flavour low-flesh-ratio fruit. Kitty Travers of La Grotta Ices even uses the same technique to make pea ice cream from pea pods!” —

❋ Where to Start With Opera by

“To most people, opera feels like a living relic. It conjures up comical images of fat women in viking helmets, not a profound connection to eternal beauty. And yet, it is with good reason that the composer Richard Wagner deemed opera a Gesamtkunstwerk, a “total work of art”.

Much like film, opera incorporates music, acting, set design, poetry and more to bring a world to life for the spectator. The only difference is, it does so in front of a live audience, and tells the story through music as opposed to mere dialogue. Indeed, most people are surprised at how much they enjoy opera when they attend their first one — the only problem is, they don’t often know where to start.

That’s why today, I want to share 5 of the most accessible operas, and excerpts of their famous arias and interludes. To be clear, this isn’t a list of the best operas, nor of my favorites.

It’s simply a list of five operas, each by a different composer, that provide a great first step into the world of opera, no matter where you start…” —

More links:

❋ This Week in The Four Freedoms

❋ Salmon Bagel Recipe

❋ How The Kiwi Fruit Got Its Name

❋ Crafting Fresh Rosemary Essential Oil

❋ Matcha but make it Persian

❋ Green Gill Oysters

❋ Officially Iced Latte Season

Enjoy your weekend!
— Rocky

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❋ All our digital issues are free to peruse. Explore our latest:

❋ Winter 25/26 Coffee Table Book (Print)

❋ Explore the full WARKITCHEN archive here.

❋ Got an article or recipe in mind? We’d love to hear more! Please send your pitch to rocky@warkitchen.net.

From the moment a baby is born, a mother’s instincts are activated, and her body knows exactly what to do to look after the precious little life placed in her arms. Her body produces milk in exactly the right quantity and of exactly the right composition. Her brain has been re-wired to hear and recognize her baby’s cries. Most importantly, she loves her little baby with an instinct and power that is incomparable to anything else on Earth and this best prepares her to lay the foundation for his proper education. There are many mercenaries who wish to make money by getting mothers to second guess their instincts but the “educational baby toys”, baby formulas and swings, are all inferior to the perfection of the mother’s presence and attention. Nevertheless, there is a time when mother’s milk is no longer enough and the baby becomes a child who needs more. In our modern world, “experts” instruct us to surrender our children to the care of nurseries and day cares for children as young as one year old. When institutionalized education was first introduced to human society, it did not begin until the child was six years of age, but it has since encroached further back into his childhood, and spread wider throughout his day. And it is not clear that this is the best environment for the crucial work to be done in the tender realm of “Early Childhood” to lay the foundations of character, emotional attachment, and a sense of beauty and wonder.

I am a mother of two young children and my repeated disillusionment with the “experts” due to the many ways they have misled us in matters of health and culture, has compelled me to do my own research on the truth about the best way to educate children in the early years. I wish to give my children the best advantages in life and these cannot be bought with expensive schools and prestigious tutors. Although it is a burden to live in a time where we are not given this fundamental wisdom perforce, it is also a blessing to be more intentional about our parenting strategies. I have learned a lot from Charlotte Mason, Erika Komisar and Gabor Maté’s research and writing as well as from hundreds of conversations with seasoned parents.

Spend Much Time in Nature

The healthy child has good posture, bright eyes, speaks clearly, walks with a spring in his step, tells the truth instinctively, and is overall brimming with life and joy. The experts who wish to tell us what to do, produce obese, indolent, contumacious, easily distracted children so we cannot trust their advice. How can we nurture the healthy child? First let us speak about forming the correct constitution of the body.

The child needs as much time as possible outdoors and in nature to get the oxygen necessary to invigorate the rapidly growing cells and to nourish the millions of neural connections that are forming. The child’s lungs need to expand and this is done best by being outdoors where shouting, singing and yelling, as is in the little child’s nature, is not irksome to indoor couch potato adults. The child in early childhood wishes to build up his muscles by running, jumping, frolicking and dancing and where best to do this but outside in a meadow where the soft grass will catch any tumble with the kindness of a mother’s arms. Many parents run themselves ragged baby proofing indoor spaces, attempting to mimic what nature offers for free in the form of a grassy meadow or a sandy beach. Even if you live in a city, taking the time a few times a week to drive out to a big park or the country-side is better than nothing.

Nature also provides direct knowledge about the world to the child through his own experience and experimentation which must come before any kind of secondary, abstract learning from books and symbols. When the child spills all the water from a cup, he learns something about gravity. When the child spots the colors on a butterfly’s wings, a bumble bee entering a flower, or the softness of flower petals, he learns true things about the world first hand. He begins the use of his own mind and senses and awakens his sense of truth, for there are no truths more clear than the truths of nature. He is the active pursuer of knowledge rather than just the passive consumer. The child will begin to tell his mother all that he sees and the mother can give him vocabulary, and encourage him to be more precise, and descriptive, “Feel how prickly this pine needle feels compared to this soft leaf”. The child gains the habit of paying close attention to his observations, a habit which even many adults have lost in the age of cameras and technological distraction.

Children in nature also do not crave the constant entertainment of toys or screens. A stick, a flower, or following a little ant is enough to enthral a young child. Nature is the most health-giving and educational place where a child may spend his early years, not indoors in a classroom looking at a picture of a flower.

Good Habits

Good habits include things like saying please and thank you, brushing your teeth before bed, tidying up your toys but Charlotte Mason’s writing tells us that our character, temperaments and values are also matters of habit. The earlier a habit is formed, the stronger it lives in the constitution of the person. Habits of character and temperament derive from habits of thought.

The mother must be constantly vigilant to expose the child to good thoughts and to catch bad thoughts in their tracks and stop them. Good thoughts are those that comprise gratitude, beauty, kindness and optimism, and bad thoughts are those that are envious, bitter, resentful, self-victimizing and pessimistic. In order to help the child with this endeavor, however, the parents must also monitor and correct their own thought habits because children in Early Childhood learn most of all from modeling. What kinds of conversations are you having with your child? What is your own outlook on life? They are moments like these that show us how good parenting forces the adults to become better people as well and this is one of the few ways that children are a blessing to us. When the habit of a certain type of thought is formed, the track in the mind forms like a rut in the ground and widens and deepens as it writes itself in the child’s soul.

The habit of thinking bad thoughts leads into the formation of evil temperaments, and bitter personalities, whereas the habit of good thoughts leads to the formation of happy temperaments and virtuous personalities. In the process of helping our children become good, perhaps we might also be improved. Another habit that must be trained with care and perseverance in early childhood is the habit of attention.

Nurturing a Healthy Attention Span

Babies naturally have very short attention spans and their mind flits from this to that like a butterfly. Even the way that very young children talk mimics this effect because we see that their stories are guided by the law of association rather than narrative or theme; a talkative little girl will jump from the topic of juice to apples to the apple tree in granny’s backyard. However, even a little baby’s attention can be gently trained to stretch beyond its natural impulse, when the mother gently brings the baby’s attention back again and again to the little daisy she was looking at, pointing at the center, and now the petals, and now spinning it. The baby will look longer at a thing if the mother looks with her. Even if she looks for ten seconds instead of two, this is a major victory for the mother. Similarly, an older child can be asked questions and can be guided in her speech to stick to one subject when she tells a story rather than jump between a hundred unrelated topics, and thus grow up to be a good speaker. So much of the power of early childhood education is through presence and conversation, rather than explicit instruction in workbooks or lessons, and this is why it is so difficult to outsource; you cannot outsource love.

Other ways to increase the attention span in early childhood is to limit cartoons and if they are shown at all, then choose lower stimulation cartoons that have longer frames and complex stories. Angelina Ballerina, Rupert Bear, Little Bear are all great examples. Choose toys that allow the child to develop and employ her imagination while she plays rather than little stimulation machines that sing, dances and entertain. Refusing to give children new toys simply because they’re “bored” and allowing them to be bored is another way to nurture a child’s attention span and imagination. The child will invent new ways to play with open ended, beautiful toys if given the opportunity. Paying attention to one task is difficult for adults and children alike. It is only a mind that has developed the habit of paying attention that can ever learn anything, or make any use of a person’s talents and skills.

Emotional Attachments

Yet none of the formative work of early childhood is possible without strong emotional attachments and the person best equipped for this attachment is the mother. It is only when a child has healthy emotional attachments that she is prepared to pursue her curiosity. Research shows that children who had the healthiest attachment to their parents immediately crawled or toddled away to explore when entering a new room, whereas babies with insecure attachments hesitated to leave their mothers because they were afraid she might leave.

Unfortunately, not all families have the luxury of a mother who can stay with her baby in the early years. Daycare and nurseries are a common form of childcare employed by families who require two incomes in order to survive in today’s economy. However, Erika Komisar’s research reveals that children who are sent to daycare report higher stress levels than children who stay home with their mothers and this not only remains consistent well after the early years are over but is also a good predictor of mental illness in the teenage years. While some daycares and nurseries may be very wholesome, and a dual income may allow parents to live in safer neighbourhoods, these benefits must be balanced against the facts of attachment in early childhood. The child under five is designed to form strong emotional connections very quickly. If they are spending the majority of their day with a nursery worker and form bonds that are periodically ripped away due to staff changes, it is a major source of distress for the child and impairs their abilities to bond in the future.

Many parents also choose daycares because they believe that they will provide the child the opportunity to socialise. But the research on early childhood by Gabor Maté reveals that children in this phase of life are not equipped to form real friendships. Attachment is a unidirectional relationship in which a child benefits and the adult compromises and gives, whereas a friendship between peers is reciprocal; both must benefit and show maturity toward each other, which a child under five is just not developmentally ready for. In fact, a healthy emotional attachment in the early years with a mature and patient adult is exactly what prepares a child for healthy friendships later in life.

An alternative to daycares is using an alloparent, such as a consistent nanny, baby-sitter, or relative. This is someone that the child may safely bond with while providing the childcare support that parents may need. However, no substitute will ever be as optimal as the mother in early childhood.

Attachment is also undermined when parents are physically present but emotionally absent. Making eye contact, listening patiently, responding with genuine interest, and including the child in daily hobbies and chores all nourish this attachment. Such presence may feel tedious but it is irreplaceable. Seeking respite through trusted help from husbands and relatives, making friends with other mothers can help re-charge our own batteries. Parenting invites adults to re-live the magic of childhood and the more you lean in, the more both you and your child benefit.

Nurturing a Sense of Beauty

Early Childhood is where the most crucial spiritual foundations are laid in a child’s heart and soul, which will continue to nourish him throughout his life. It is for this reason that it is very important to expose the child to great beauty, good quality language, and good ideas. Charlotte Mason describes an idea as “more than an image, or a picture; it is a spiritual germ endowed with vital force - with power, that is, to grow and to produce after its kind” (Charlotte Mason, Home Education Vol 1). When a child is given good ideas, their curiosity will be primed to seek more good ideas on their own as they grow.

Beautiful books cultivate the sense of beauty in the child even in infancy, supplying beautiful images, beautiful language, and virtuous ideas. As the child grows, these stories and images will be preferred due to nostalgia and thus strengthen in their power over the child through emotional valence. Books that use “twaddle” as Charlotte Mason calls it, or baby language are to be avoided as well as books with ugly or overly simplified illustrations. Children even in early childhood are capable of so much more than we are led to believe by modern pedagogy and when children are taken seriously they flourish. Examples of great children’s book authors are Judith Kerr, Andrew Lang, Hans Christian Andersen, Beatrix Potter, JM Barrie, Michael Morpurgo, and Raymond Briggs to name a few.

Reading a little boy or girl of four “Treasure Island” or “Charlie and the Chocolate factory” is preferable to letting them languish in the baby books that modern book stores would foist on them. Children really do understand stories and can follow along, if only we let them. Rather than giving babies flip books with sound playing gimmicks, show them beautiful pictures and put them at her eye-level and you’ll find that she is much more engaged with an Edmund Dulac, Beatrix Potter or Annie Stegg illustration because of the details, the colors and
the beauty.

Raising Dangerous Human Beings

In an age obsessed with academic achievement, worksheets and measurable milestones, we must reclaim the immeasurable and intangible qualities that comprise the proper education of a young child. Early childhood is for forming strong emotional attachments that breed a courageous heart, strong bodies that are capable of housing a strong spirit and mind, and habits that will nurture good character. No amount of money can buy the tenderness, love and patience that this kind of education requires. The most valuable thing to the child under five is the interest and presence of his parents and especially his mother. Children ought to emerge from early childhood confident, bright eyed, happy and with a healthy curiosity and reverence for beauty. Before you get caught up in the prestige of a nursery or the pride of an extracurricular activity, consider this essay, and whether the fundamentals are looked after first, and we may one day people the world with more wholesome, dangerous, and dynamic human beings rather than resumes to be uploaded to LinkedIn.

Classical Ideals

A blog about great art and literature, how we can read it, how we can let it transform us. Re-educate yourself, and equip yourself to better educate your children.

By Megha Lillywhite

Megha Lillywhite is a writer and classical illustrator. She publishes , where she discusses modern culture, art history and philosophy. Subscribe at classicalideals.press to read more of her work. You can also follow Megha on Instagram @meghalillywhite and on X @megha_lilly.

This piece was first published in Issue 41 of the WARKITCHEN, explore the rest of the issue here. Enjoy the experience 🥂

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When ice cream is made with real ingredients, the way God intended, it can be enjoyed without worry. Milk, cream, salt, eggs and sugar churned together slowly at sub-zero. Absolute perfection. Calcium, iron, vitamins A, D & K, omega-3s, probiotics, choline, magnesium, protein, C15, and antioxidants to name a few. Eat real ice cream for fertility, skin, hair, longevity, brain health and happiness.

This recipe was written by Arianne Griffin. For more recipes, subscribe at chzmaman.substack.com. You can find her on Instagram @chezmaman____.

This piece was first published in Issue 41 of the WARKITCHEN, explore the rest of the issue here. Enjoy the experience 🥂

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Long before we measured our health in biomarkers and supplements, life organized itself around water. Well, it still does. Migration patterns follow it, herds travel for it, birds cross continents looking for the right lakes and rivers. The smallest changes in water quality will quietly transform entire ecosystems.

You’re made up of roughly 60% water. For newborns it’s closer to 75%. Every nutrient travels through water. Every cellular process depends on water. It’s the single most consumed substance in life. Yet it’s the input we tend to question the least. For most of human history, we paid very close attention: where it came from, how it tasted, what it looked like, how it changed through the seasons. Today, water is largely treated as infrastructure, managed by systems most of us rarely think about.

Legacy System

Public drinking water in the U.S. is regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), passed in 1974. While there have been incremental updates since, many of the most significant contaminant standards date back decades, including rules on disinfection byproducts (1998), radionuclides (2000), and arsenic (2001). In 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the first national drinking water standards for PFAS, often called “forever chemicals.” The rule is currently facing legal and political challenges, and full compliance will be phased in through 2031.

As a result, much of today’s regulatory framework was built around legacy contaminants and has struggled to keep pace with newer classes of chemicals. EPA standards are not set purely based on health. The agency defines a health-based goal (MCLG), but the enforceable limit (MCL) is based on what is feasible, taking into account cost and available treatment technology. That distinction matters. The number reported in your water may not represent the ideal level for health, but rather what can be achieved across large systems.

Take arsenic as an example:

• EPA health goal (MCLG): 0

• EPA enforceable limit (MCL): 10 parts per billion

• EWG guideline: 0.004 parts per billion

There’s a huge gap between what’s ideal in terms of health, and what’s practical for existing infrastructure to achieve.

What About Bottled Water?

Bottled water typically falls into two broad categories: heavily treated and municipally sourced, or minimally treated and naturally sourced.

Heavily Treated and Municipally Sourced

The starting point is tap water, which is typically disinfected with chlorine or chloramines to kill harmful microbes. These disinfectants can react with natural organic matter to form disinfection byproducts such as trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs). Long-term exposure to elevated levels of these compounds has been associated with health risks, which is why they are regulated.

These byproducts are relatively small and soluble, and while treatment can reduce them, they’re not always completely removed and can continue to form as water moves through the distribution system.

The water is filtered and rebottled - often under language like “reverse osmosis” or “micro-filtered” - which may sound elevated, but the source is the same water that runs through city pipes. While these processes can significantly reduce many contaminants, they don’t necessarily eliminate everything, and the original source still influences the final composition. Modern filtration is effective, but not absolute.

Minimally Treated and Naturally Sourced

Whether it’s spring, artesian, mineral - naturally sourced waters cannot be purified if they want to retain their labeling name. These naturally-sourced waters are marketed as untouched, which is true, but “natural” doesn’t always mean pure. These sources all pull from groundwater, and groundwater pulls from everything around it, which, in our globally connected water system, can also contain agricultural runoff and other pervasive pollutants.

Minimal treatment preserves the “natural” mineral profiles, but the result is water that sounds wholesome yet can legally contain trace contaminants that often fail modern health-based benchmarks. So while the labels read “pure” or “natural,” what’s in the bottle is often ordinary, or worse.

It’s not just about source or filtration, both are critical. And neither works in isolation.

Then There’s the Container

Glass, once the standard, has nearly disappeared from mainstream bottling because it’s slower and more expensive to produce. A glass bottling line runs about 400 bottles per minute. A PET plastic line can fill 2,000 per minute, and a can line can hit 2,500 or more.

Most bottled water now lives in some form of plastic: bottles, plastic-lined aluminum, or plastic-lined cartons. And yes, aluminum cans are plastic lined, because while aluminum doesn’t rust like iron, it still corrodes when it meets liquid. So without that thin plastic barrier, your can would start to dissolve into your water. And the cap matters, too. A recent study found that some glass-bottled beverages contained even more microplastics than those packaged in plastic. That may sound counterintuitive, glass itself is inert and doesn’t shed plastic, but the explanation lies elsewhere. Researchers traced the contamination not to the bottle or the inner liner, but to the external decorative finishes on caps. These finishes are often made from epoxy - or polymer-based coatings - fancy words for plastic - used for color and branding. During manufacturing, transport, or handling, these painted and printed layers can chip, introducing microscopic plastic particles into the bottle.

The Supply Chain Constraints

Unlike fresh food, bottled water doesn’t require refrigeration or fast turnover. It’s designed to sit: on pallets, in hot trucks, in un-air-conditioned warehouses, under fluorescent light. Sometimes for months, sometimes for years.

And what degrades plastic? Heat exposure, light exposure, and time.

A 2024 Columbia University study found an average of 240,000 plastic particles per liter of bottled water, a level far higher than anyone could previously measure.

So what you often end up with is a perfect trifecta: questionable source, plastic vessel, and a long, warm supply chain. The longer and hotter the storage, the greater the exposure. The problem isn’t bottled water itself, it’s the way the category was built. For decades, the industry optimized for shelf life, speed, and profit. Glass gave way to plastic, and transparency gave way to marketing. But now that we know better, we can do better.

The Way Forward

I went down this structural rabbit hole during IVF and then into pregnancy, when I was trying to avoid endocrine disruptors and plastics, and narrowed in on the food I eat and the water I drink. And now, with a two (!) year old, I’m wholly committed to doing something about it, because while I may be 90% plastic at this point, my daughter is not. And that’s how Loonen was born.

At , we start with a natural mountain spring, but we treat it as a starting point, not a proof of purity. Springs are living systems. Variability is real. Ignoring it introduces risk.

From the source, Loonen water travels in stainless steel tankers through stainless steel piping. Not for aesthetics, but because stainless steel is chemically stable. It doesn’t leach. It doesn’t shed microplastics. It doesn’t react.

We filter for contaminants using physical membrane filtration, not chemical disinfection. No chlorine, no oxidants, no disinfection byproducts. Physical filtration works as a mechanical barrier, removing what doesn’t belong without introducing new chemistry.

After filtration, we rebalance with calcium, magnesium, potassium, and Celtic sea salt. There is no perfect spring profile in nature. Mineral balancing allows us to create consistency and intention. It affects mouthfeel, taste, and the way water actually interacts with the body. After that, we bottle exclusively in glass. Glass is inert. It doesn’t shed microplastics. It doesn’t interact with water under normal storage conditions. We seal each bottle with an unpainted, uncoated aluminum cap, eliminating the potential for microplastic shedding from decorative finishes. Inside, a PFAS-free, BPA-free liner ensures a clean, food-grade seal. Before sealing, every cap is rinsed twice in a closed-system cap wash, so nothing unwanted comes into contact with your water.

The kicker is that we test on a finished goods basis: for PFAS, microplastics, bisphenols, phthalates, radiologicals, disinfection byproducts, pesticides, herbicides, volatile organics, and a host of other contaminants. Then we publish the results. Because we all deserve to know what’s in our water.

What It All Comes Down To

Water quality is cumulative. Every layer matters: source, transport, filtration, mineralization, packaging, testing. Remove rigor from any one layer and the system weakens.

Hydration isn’t a trend category. It’s foundational. When something is consumed every day, subtle differences compound over time. Water is the most frequent input into the body. We drink it every day, for our entire life. If there’s anywhere systems thinking belongs, it’s here.

The most optimized thing you can do for your health is take the foundation seriously. Everything else builds on top of it. For skin health, mood, digestion, focus, hormones, energy, sleep: start with the water. And demand the best.

A Sip Above

Making sense of work, motherhood, and what’s actually in our water.

By Loonen

Clara Sieg is the co-founder of Loonen, a company rethinking the most foundational thing we consume: water. Loonen is glass-bottled and built around transparency, with third-party testing and published results. She writes about work, motherhood, and what’s actually in our water at . Read more at loonen.substack.com.

This piece was first published in Issue 41 of the WARKITCHEN, explore the rest of the issue here. Enjoy the experience 🥂

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Ladies and gents, we’re so back! No print issue this spring, but the next best thing is a curated digital featuring some of our favorite people.

Inside: Challenging sleep training, exploring the ancient city of Alexandria, raising children under five, the importance of blessing your food, water quality, building your home apothecary, coffee rituals, vanilla ice cream and so much more… There’s an entire world for you to explore!

Issue 41 is proudly powered by our friends who are taking down Big Toothpaste, The VanMan Company.

Explore natural health and wellness products like their all-natural tooth powder, tallow balm, lip balm and other chemical & additive free health products at vanman.shop.

If you’re in San Diego, visit VanMan’s Kitchen for grassfed burgers, tallow fries and a 2pm affogato to lift your spirits! Explore their menu at vanmanskitchen.com.

Issue 41 is best enjoyed in a double-page spread layout:

Click here to access the full PDF

Note: Individual articles will be published on our editorial page in the coming days. If this is your first time here (welcome!!), subscribe to receive them in your inbox:

If you’re not quite sure what to expect, scroll for a taste of what’s inside. Tapping on any one of the images grants you access to the full digital issue.

Raising Dangerous Human Beings

“Nature is the most health-giving and educational place where a child may spend his early years, not indoors in a classroom looking at a picture of a flower.”
—

Challenging Sleep Training

“Sleep training asks babies to sit alone with their distress in the dark - not because their need for comfort is unreasonable, but because it’s been labeled inconvenient.”
— Madison Tylak

Water is the Base of Everything

“Long before we measured our health in biomarkers and supplements, life organized itself around water. It still does. Migration patterns follow it, herds travel for it, birds cross continents looking for the right lakes and rivers. The smallest changes in water quality will quietly transform entire ecosystems.”
—

The Rituals of Blessing Your Food

“In that pause, you might notice details you would otherwise miss: the way steam curls upward, the colors of roasted vegetables, the way your own hunger sharpens your senses. Waiting, even briefly, makes the meal feel more alive.”
—

Endotoxin

“Coffee does more for the gut than it gets credit for. It strengthens the intestinal barrier and lowers circulating endotoxin, and the polyphenols and diterpenes are doing the work, not the caffeine.” — William Nunn

Alexandria: Exploring Egypt’s Greco-Roman Capital, Alexander the Great’s Crown Jewel

“No single fire destroyed the Great Library like we mythologize - the center of learning collapsed through defunding and neglect. Burning books make for a compelling image, but precious information is lost far more often when a culture simply turns away from it.”
—

Leisure: In Solitude

“The Arriere-Boutique should be used as a space to refresh and unwind, to explore and reveal, but it should not culminate in the neglect of life’s exterior, which is equally as important to finding the wholeness we yearn for.”
— D A Brett

The Art of the Apothecary

“Centuries before our modern devices, there were kitchens lined with drying bundles of thyme and yarrow. Rosemary crushed by nonna’s bare fingers. Jars of olive oil infused with basil and raw sunlight. Elders who knew which root to dig after the first frost, which flower to steep for a restless mind, which bitter leaf to chew in early spring to wake the liver from winter’s sleep.”
—

Foraging for a Dutch Spring

“On my days off, or even just cycling to work, I find myself constantly observing what is emerging, new shoots, blossoms, and the first tender leaves of the season.”
—

The Mold Question

“The coffee you drink is roasted, and then brewed with hot water. That combination makes ‘active mold’ an unlikely concern in the final beverage. The bigger issue by far is cup quality and whether a coffee was handled well enough upstream to avoid the kind of storage or drying process damage that creates stale, musty flavors.”
— Andrew Sinclair

Community Eats

As always, every issue is made complete with your works of Art. Thank you for all your submissions. Spot yourself :)

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Enjoy the experience,
Rocky

❋ All our digital issues are free to peruse. Explore the full archive here.

❋ Read WARKITCHEN in print! Winter 25/26 is currently still in stock (at this point in writing). You can get a copy here.

❋ Got an article or recipe in mind? We’d love to hear more! Please send your pitch to rocky@warkitchen.net.

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Some foods just go together. The way soft butter spreads on toasted sourdough for the perfect bite. How espresso poured over a scoop of ice cream turns into an affogato with enough power to turn the worst days around.

But there are some pairings that most people would never dare admit. The kind that sound wrong on paper. ALMOST offensive. And yet, they just work. I can’t explain it. They just do.

Chocolate and orange look like they come from two different worlds, yet a pain suisse tastes magical. A drizzle of olive oil is the last thing you’d pour over mango yet it works. A tiny bit of blue cheese with honey. Yogurt and fries. And dare I say, dipping a medium rare steak in melted dark chocolate. These are some weird pairings that actually go so hard.

Orange and Chocolate
You’re a real hater if you find this weird. Orange-infused chocolate is heaven on Earth. This is why the pain suisse will always reign supreme. S tier pastry.

Espresso and Orange Juice
Standard café order (if you know you know).

Matcha and Ice Cream
Don’t like espresso in your affogato? Try matcha and you might just never go back. The matcha affogato is extremely underrated.

Steak and Melted Chocolate
Before you leave a hate comment, hear me out. This is not something you have everyday. BUT when you’re craving some medium rare steak and good dark chocolate, why not have them together? Think about it…

Mango and Olive Oil
Just the lightest drizzle of fruity extra virgin olive oil elevates the mango beautifully.

Ice Cream and Olive Oil
Sounds unhinged until you actually try it! Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Add the tiniest pinch of flaky sea salt if you’re feeling it!

Watermelon and Feta
Just a few crumbs of feta (thyme optional) just complements a juicy slice of watermelon so well. Salty and sweet. Elite hydration.

Blue and Honey
A good blue cheese with raw honey is a must for the charcuterie.

Yogurt and Duck Fat Fries
Fries and ice cream is just a bit too much. It’s too “thick”. Fries with yogurt? A divine experience.

What else would you add?

Thinking about warm baths

Maybe all you need this weekend is a warm magnesium bath

Butter and sourdough

You need to be romanticizing life. Allow yourself the luxury of completely disconnecting. Savor a perfectly toasted slice of sourdough with soft, raw butter. It's the greatest vehicle for one of the most nutrient dense spreads in the world 🤍

Real hydration

As the days get warmer, don't forget that sometimes the best way to stay hydrated is to eat more beautiful food. Enjoy a juicy mango. Snack on berries. Eat more pineapple. This way, you're nourishing yourself with all the electrolytes and natural sugars that you're not getting when you just drink gallon after gallon of purified water.

❋ Master The Art of Eating Your Peptides: A dietary frontier for superior health, beauty, and vitality by

“Science has been (for decades now), exploring the customization of peptides by creating unique amino acid sequences, utilizing different delivery systems, and exploring various mechanisms of action.

It’s changing the medical landscape as we speak.

But what about the bioactive peptides present within the foods widely available to us, and have been available to us for centuries?

This is something that is rarely talked about or explored because there is little financial incentive to do so.

Could the peptides within the foods we eat influence regenerative capabilities, healing capabilities, and epigenetics similarly to the peptides being engineered in labs?” —

❋ Passionfruit Tart with Raspberry Meringue

“If you’re looking to up your lemon meringue pie game, this tart is for you. A creamy passionfruit filling, nestled in a buttery, crumbly crust, topped with a cloud of raspberry meringue that adds a delightful pop of color and sweetness.”

❋ Milk-Based Buttercreams by

“What I really love about ermine is the potential to infuse the milk with various flavours - herbs, teas and spices all work wonderfully. The finished result is remarkably similar to mousseline so it’s a good option if you want that texture and flavour without messing around with egg yolks. I wouldn’t use this buttercream if you plan on using a lot of add-ins like purees, caramels or pralines, it already contains a lot of liquid meaning that it can collapse or split easily when adding extra ingredients, Swiss and Italian are best for that.

Because this buttercream doesn’t require any eggs, it’s also an excellent option when it comes to plant-based buttercreams. I made one of my tests using oat milk and plant-based “butter” block and the texture was great. However, as is often the case with plant-based “butter”, the flavour was somewhat lacking. If you’re planning on making a plant-based ermine buttercream, I would highly recommend infusing the milk with some strong flavours, it really benefits from some punchy flavours to distract from the slightly off-putting margarine aftertaste.” —

❋ Roasted Carrot Ice Cream With Hazelnut Sesame-Seed Crumble

“Roasted carrots lend their sweetness and a lovely color to this ice cream, which is graced with a terrific crumble.

We found in testing that honey used to coat the roasting carrots tended to burn in spots and create a charred taste that does not translate well to the ice cream base, so you may want to watch them closely in the oven and avoid that scorching.

You’ll need an instant-read thermometer and an ice cream maker.

The ice cream base needs to be refrigerated overnight. The churned ice cream needs to firm up in the freezer for at least 3 hours, and will keep for 1 to 2 months in the freezer. The crumble will keep for up to 2 weeks in a sealed container.”

❋ The Ultimate Guide for Hard Gainers - Appetite, Digestion, Training Design and Lean Mass Gain by

“Weight gain depends on how much energy enters and how much leaves. Intake and expenditure have to be considered together. Looking at one without the other leads to wrong conclusions.

Low intake is not always obvious. Some people simply do not feel hungry enough to reach the required calories. Others feel hungry but stop eating early because meals become uncomfortable. In both cases, total intake stays below what is needed.

Early fullness is a separate issue. Hunger can be present, but meals end too quickly. This reduces calories per meal and forces a higher meal frequency that is not always achievable. Over a full day, intake remains low without being noticed.” —

❋ Roadtripping through america’s “coffee paradise” by

“Juxtaposing these actually very different areas illuminated some cultural blind spots. For instance, at home I think nothing of starting a road trip with a 24 oz. iced latte picked up at a coffee shack (we’ll talk about these in a sec). European me, sophisticated and elegant, would never dream of doing this.

The drink dwarfed Cecelia’s 6 oz. cappuccino. I learned that day how small to-go cups can be, and she learned how big they can be.

She watched me place the drink in its jumbo cupholder, laughing. “It’s… Uh… for the journey.” I reassured her with an undeserved, cowboy-like sincerity. It’s for the road ahead.

But this triggered a kind of self-reflection that permeated the rest of our trip. Why did I need so much liquid in one sitting? We weren’t in a coffee desert.

The opposite, actually: America’s ‘coffee paradise.’” —

More links:

❋ Coconut Affogato

❋ Rome was so obsessed with pearls, they had to make them illegal

❋ Coffee at the Automat

❋ How an olive symbolizes the value of a culture

❋ Seafood Tastes Better With Olive Oil

❋ Watercolor Goose

❋ Coffee shop hospitality

❋ Best foods to support your pregnancy

Enjoy your weekend!
— Rocky

Share

❋ All our digital issues are free to peruse. Explore our latest:

❋ Winter 25/26 Coffee Table Book (Print)

❋ Explore the full WARKITCHEN archive here.

❋ Got an article or recipe in mind? We’d love to hear more! Please send your pitch to rocky@warkitchen.net.

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It’s gelato season. Real gelato is absolutely a health food. Think about it. Milk, egg yolks, sugar, real fruit. Your great-grandmother would recognize every ingredient. Compare that to the 17 ingredient monstrosity most supermarkets sell. That’s not gelato!

Real Flavors
Strawberry gelato should use strawberries. Pistachio should use pistachios. This sounds obvious but “natural flavors” are an epidemic in 2026. Look for gelaterias that name their sources. Bronte pistachios from Sicily. Amalfi lemons. Piedmont hazelnuts. We must go back.

Enjoy Slightly Melted
This might be slightly controversial but gelato, or ice cream is always best enjoyed slightly melted. Nobody wants something ridiculously frozen. We want to enjoy gelato that’s just started to melt. When it’s slowly dripping down the waffle cone - those are the gelatos you’ll think about one spring afternoon...

Waffle Cone
Cup or cone? The answer is almost always cone - especially if you’re enjoying your gelato sun-kissed. Look for beautiful waffle cones made the right way. Nothing goes as well with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream than a perfectly constructed waffle cone.

Full Fat Milk
Gelato lives or dies by the quality of the milk. Full fat, ideally from cows that ate grass and saw the sun. Skim milk gelato is a crime. Remember, fat is flavor.

Real Sugar
Cane sugar, honey, maybe even maple syrup. Real gelato uses real sugar. High fructose corn syrup is an abomination. The good stuff is sweet but never too sweet. Just enough for the full fat milk and real fruit to be the stars.

Egg Yolks
The custard base is what separates a real gelato from a sad one. Egg yolks give you that rich flavor that “vegan gelatos & ice creams” just cannot compete with. Don’t trust gelatos without yolk.

Gelato vs Ice Cream
What’s the difference? Well, gelato is denser, warmer, and lower in fat than ice cream. Less air churned in, served around -12ºC (10ºF) instead of -15ºC (5ºF). This is why gelato often has a more intense flavor and silkier texture. Both have their place! But gelato is the more elegant cousin.

Underrated Natural Flavors
In this house, we’re against Frankenstein flavors. No double fudge cookie dough syrup whip. Those are forever D tier. Opt for classic flavors. The best ones are simple. Let Mother Nature do the work.

What’s your favorite ice cream / gelato flavor?

Summer nourishment

Summer soon 😇

The analog revolution

THANK YOU SO MUCH for being part of the analog revolution!! This winter edition has been so well received and I just want to take a moment to thank each one of you who made it happen. All our contributors, readers, sponsors and all of you who continue to share our stuff over the years. It means so much. So much more than you know.

We're never gonna stop creating beautiful things 😇🥂

Also - to those of you who are new here - we do things a little differently to most publishers. Our print editions are sold on a drop style basis. There's no subscription. We make something, hope we order enough and release it. We mightttt do reprints down the line if enough of you want it but no promises.

Currently, only Winter 25/26 is in stock. BUT we're working on the much awaited FERTILITY themed issue for summer! This one has been in the making for so long and we really want to get it right. Appreciate your patience and we're so stoked for what's coming around the corner. God bless 🤍

Real luxury

Real luxury is in appreciating the finer things in life. What else would you add? 🤍

Pain au chocolat or pain suisse?

Pain au chocolat is a work of art. Pain suisse might just be the most underrated pastry in the world. If you could only have one, what would you pick?

Spring bingo

It’s time to play spring bingo! What are you looking forward to?

❋ Shortbread Plum Tart With Honey and Cinnamon

“Based on a classic gâteau Breton, this buttery tart is filled with a fresh plum compote flavored with honey, rosemary and cinnamon instead of the usual puréed prunes. You can make the compote and dough a few days ahead, but this tart is best served within 24 hours of baking. After that, the center starts to turn mushy from the moisture released by the fruit. Serve it on its own, or with a dollop of whipped cream.”

❋ How to Make the Perfect Matcha by

“After years of trial and error, this is my guide to making my perfect matcha. Silky, velvety, light, frothy, micro-foamy, smooth & perfectly sippable matcha.

I try my best to represent & uphold traditional Japanese matcha preparation, and prioritize some of the key pillars in Japanese culture as I prepare my matcha: gratitude, presence, mindfulness, seasonal awareness and a deep respect for nature.” —

❋ Ninja Creami açai bowl recipe

“I was at the supermarket recently when I stumbled upon frozen açai blocks. It has been forever since I last had açai, owing mainly to an ageing and inexpensive blender/food processor that won’t allow me to achieve a thick açai consistency with ease. Naturally, my mind went straight to making a Ninja Creami Açai bowl, so here we are!

This delicious Ninja Creami açai recipe is, of course, gluten free and vegan. As of late May 2025, there is no entry on Monash as to whether açai blocks are low FODMAP – only that açai powder is in 20g serves (FODMAP Everyday says it is FODMAP free). Either way, this makes for a delicious and easy breakfast if you know you tolerate açai well.

Frozen blocks of açai are blended with frozen blueberries, banana and a small amount of peanut butter. Water brings everything together into a smooth and creamy mixture that goes straight into the 470ml Ninja Creami tub. That’s it! All you need to do to start the day with a delicious thick and creamy açai bowl.”

❋ The First True Days of Spring by

“Three Actions to Live a More Rooted Life

1. Go to the water’s edge
Find the nearest pond, lake, stream, or ditch and stand there for a while. Bring nothing with you. Watch what moves. Fish, birds, insects, the surface itself shifting in the wind. If you have a child with you, let them lead. Pick up a stick. Cast it. Pretend. Stay longer than you meant to. Let the place set the pace.

2. Step outside without preparation
When the light comes through the window, go out as you are. No perfect boots, no full plan. Follow the pull the children feel. Walk the yard. Cross the field. Stand at the woodline. Let the season meet you before you try to meet it halfway. These first true days do not wait for readiness, do they?

3. Mark the return of life
Choose three signs of spring you have seen this week and name them. The peepers in the low ground. The first birds in the hedgerow. Tracks in the mud. A loss, a chase, a new sound at dusk. Hold them in your mind. This is how you learn your place again, by noticing what has returned and what has changed.” —

❋ Iced Coffee Crème Brûlée Pie

“Is there ice in this pie? No. Is there a delicious and unbelievably smooth espresso & cream custard, milky dulce de leche, a spiced cookie crust, and a crackly caramelized brûlée’d top to boot? Yes, absolutely it has all of those things. The flavor of this pie recalls the best iced latte you’ve ever had and tastes way more sophisticated than the ingredient list would suggest”

❋ Lemon Curd Pistachio Cake by

“The pistachios bring this warm, nutty depth to the cake that you wouldn’t expect to work so perfectly with lemon — but it does. And the lemon curd? Instead of just spreading it on top, it’s piped right into the cake, so every single bite has that bright, tart citrus woven all the way through.

To finish things off, the whole cake gets topped with the smoothest cream cheese frosting — tangy, creamy, and just sweet enough to tie everything together. A sprinkle of chopped pistachios on top adds a little extra texture and makes it look as good as it tastes.

This is the kind of cake that feels special without being fussy. Perfect for spring gatherings, a birthday, or honestly — just any day you feel like baking something beautiful.” —

More links:

❋ How to Maintain Wood Cutting Boards

❋ Children’s Cartoons Tier List

❋ Smoked Radishes Salad Recipe

❋ Top 7 Luxury Ranges

❋ Fonts Similar to Apple

❋ Cameron’s Finds of the Week

❋ Home Kitchen Organization Maxxing

Have a gorgeous weekend! New digital issue dropping soon :)
— Rocky

Share

❋ All our digital issues are free to peruse. Explore our latest:

❋ Winter 25/26 Coffee Table Book (Print)

❋ Explore the full WARKITCHEN archive here.

❋ Got an article or recipe in mind? We’d love to hear more! Please send your pitch to rocky@warkitchen.net.

It’s a weekend of deep leisure. April is a great time of year to shift gears. Work hard. Pour your soul into the everything you’re doing. And then, completely disconnect. Go for a game of tennis. Swim. Hike. Your mind needs periods of complete leisure for you to perform at your best. For your light to be bright, you have to switch it off every now and then. Have a glorious SUNDAY!

Natural dyes for Easter eggs

Before artificial dyes, Easter eggs were colored with what we had around us. Nettle for a mossy green. Coffee for various shades of brown. Onion skins. Chamomile. Pomegranate juice. If you're making Easter eggs this weekend, Red 40 & Yellow 5 are easy options but consider using natural dyes!

Artificial dyes are made from petroleum. And egg shells are porous. So this means these artificial dyes seep through the shell and into the egg white underneath. If you've ever peeled an Easter egg and noticed the white has turned pink or blue you've seen this firsthand.

Artificial dyes have been linked with behavioral effects in children including mood swings, hyperactivity, and ADHD. Our children deserve better.

Vitamin B12

The best B12 supplement will always be whole foods 🤍

Your cravings are a cry for nourishment

Sometimes, your cravings are a sign you need NOURISHMENT. If you're alway craving chocolate, you might need more magnesium. If you're always craving salty foods, you might need more sodium.

Or.... if you're craving for a beautiful affogato all of a sudden - it's a sign you NEED some whimsy in your life. Turn slack notifications off. Go for a walk. Let the sun kiss your face. Enjoy an affogato until you're tastefully buzzed.

What are you craving for this week? 🤭

❋ Strawberry Sourdough Donuts

“These homemade strawberry sourdough donuts are soft, fluffy, and bursting with fresh strawberry flavor. Made with simple ingredients like all-purpose flour, sourdough starter, and fresh strawberries, they’re naturally fermented for added depth of flavor and nutrition. Each light and airy donut is finished with a sweet and tangy strawberry glaze, making them the perfect treat for breakfast, dessert, or any time you’re craving something special.”

❋ How Language Shapes Your Thinking by

“Everyone knows that language shapes your thinking. French, German, and English speakers all have fundamentally different views of reality, because their respective languages shape their minds in unique ways.

It’s an idea that makes for a compelling theory — but it’s almost entirely wrong.

That said, different languages do have unique ways of expressing ideas, and some of them can be quite eye-opening. Do they allow you to perceive reality on a far deeper level than your monolingual friends? Not really. Do they make for insightful glimpses into how other people and cultures express themselves? Sure!

Today, we look at some of the more curious elements of other languages, and how they might shed light on your own…” —

❋ Brown Butter Caramelized Banana Bread

“I give you my best ever brown butter caramelized banana bread, which is without a doubt the banana bread of all banana breads. It is incredibly moist and tender, over the top flavorful, and basically just melts in your mouth.

I am so excited to bring you this brown butter caramelized banana bread! I shared a few behind the scenes of testing it over on Instagram the other day and received an outpouring of messages asking for the recipe. Well, it’s here! So let’s get right to it.”

❋ What the ladies are wearing this spring by

“Dark brown loafers are year-round for me, so I’ll be kicking about in those as per usual. After a long time searching, I’ve landed on some simple, lighter casual footwear options in the form of New Balance Mt10T and Tabi footwear.

I walk everywhere, but don’t always want to be wearing 574s and heavy sneakers, so these feel like a sporty ballerina compromise.

And they add some subtle interest to an otherwise plain outfit. And throw in a pair of Vans or spring courts and the occasional camp moc for fun.” —

❋ Pistachio Gelato

“One of the most requested recipes has been a pistachio gelato! This has a great pistachio flavour with a natural colour and smooth texture.

Pistachio paste is an expensive ingredient, so you can make it yourself, but you’ll need a high-powered food processor and some really good quality bright green pistachios, like Sicilian ones!

A high end gelato/ice cream machine is really important here too, as the built-in chiller will maintain a constant cold temperature to ensure small ice crystal formation while the mixture churns. I use the Musso Lussino 4080.”

❋ What German Porcelain Marks can Tell You

“While the discovery of large deposits of kaolin in the region led to the production of German porcelain for the wider population in the 1800s, the earlier pieces still hold value and even rare pieces by more recent producers such as Hummel figurines produced by Goebel can command thousands of dollars.

In more recent history the addition of the ‘Made in Germany’ porcelain mark helps us with the identification of work produced by these German porcelain markers. Introduced by the British government in 1887 to reduce imports into the country, it in fact added value to much of the German work as it became known as a mark for quality porcelain. This rich history behind the wealth of antique German porcelain has carried through to the present day and adds depth to the value of these distinguished pieces.”

More links:

❋ Leopard Tiramisu Idea

❋ The Basil Trick

❋ Cast Iron Waffle Maker

❋ Spring Visuals

❋ Burger Bowl Recipe

Enjoy your Sunday! New digital issue dropping soon :)
— Rocky

Share

❋ All our digital issues are free to peruse. Explore our latest:

❋ Winter 25/26 Coffee Table Book (Print)

❋ Explore the full WARKITCHEN archive here.

❋ Got an article or recipe in mind? We’d love to hear more! Please send your pitch to rocky@warkitchen.net.

You’re stepping into a beautiful Spring and with that comes a glorious season of fresh fruit! Some say April is the best fruit month of the year since we have the remnants of winter and summer berries right around the corner.

We organized this month’s fruits by where they are in their season: Late (grab them now), Peak (they taste their BEST), and Early (just arriving). For each one, here are some tips on how you can choose the best tasting fruit and ways you can enjoy them.

Late Season (Get Them Now)

Blood Oranges

How to choose? Look for firm oranges that feel heavy for their size. A slight blush / red tint on the outside is fine and not an issue at all (some people think that means it’s gone bad but they’re wrong).

How to use? These are my favorite oranges! They’re sweeter, with a richer flavor and gosh do they just look so gorgeous. This is your sign to get a bunch of blood oranges this Sunday and make beautiful citrus juice. They also make for a great pick me up snack.

Meyer Lemon

How to choose? Look for smooth skin with a deep golden, almost egg-yolk color. They should feel heavy and smell incredible.

How to use? Squeeze into a glass of sparkling water, alfresco. Grate the zest over roasted vegetables or grilled fish.

Grapefruit

How to choose? Heavy for its size. Always. Smooth skin, no major blemishes.

How to use? The best way to enjoy grapefruit is raw. Maybe with a tiny pinch of sea salt or some extra virgin olive oil if you’re feeling it!

Rhubarb

How to choose? Yes, rhubarb is treated as a fruit! Technically a vegetable but it’s often used in pies and compotes so we thought we’d give it an honorary mention! Look for firm, crisp stalks with a deep red or pink color. The deeper the color, the sweeter it will be. Avoid stalks that are limp or have started to brown.

How to use? Rhubarb goes so well with strawberries! Use the opportunity to make compote, perhaps for your Basque Cheesecake or even homemade jam you can use with sourdough.

Peak Season (Tastes the Best)

Strawberry

How to choose? The best strawberries are a deep, uniform red all throughout. There shouldn’t be any “white shoulders” and they should give off a subtle, sweet fragrance.

How to use? Raw, obviously. They don’t need anything else! Eat them fresh and you can never have just one. They’re also one of the best things to elevate a snack or dessert - throw them in an acai bowl, yogurt or even freeze and have them in your smoothies!

Pineapple

How to choose? The best pineapples feel heavy and are more golden-yellow than they are green! Their leaves should pull out with a gentle tug.

How to use? Eat fresh. You can also grill them and serve with ice cream. Perhaps alongside your Sunday affogato!

Hass Avocado

How to choose? For eating immediately, look for dark green to almost black skin. Those are the most ripe! It should never feel too mushy in your hands. For eating later in the week, buy firmer, greener ones and let them ripen on your counter.

How to use? IMO avocados are kinda overrated but sometimes they can star in a great breakfast! Lately I’ve been enjoying them as the “bed” for a slice of perfectly toasted sourdough, scrambled eggs and a few slices of sirloin steak on top. It’s one of those breakfasts that take a bit of effort to make but it’s worth each bite!

Passion Fruit

How to choose? This is the rare case where the ugly ones are better lmao. Look for passion fruit that’s slightly wrinkled! If it’s 100% smooth it means they’re not ripe yet. Should also feel heavy for its size.

How to use? Slice in half and scoop all that goodness straight into your mouth. I absolutely loveeee passion fruit with yogurt - it’s so underrated! Adds a beautiful crunchy texture that switches things up. You can also always make a beautiful water cocktail.

Early Season (Just Arriving)

Apricot

How to choose? The best April apricots are just starting to arrive from California! Look for a uniform orange with just a slight blush. They should be fragrant. Avoid anything that’s incredibly hard to the touch.

How to use? A perfectly ripe apricot eaten at room temperature is one of the finest things in life. If they’re still a little firm, you can try roasting them and then enjoy with raw honey or good ice cream.

Blueberry

How to choose? Look for firm, plump berries with a uniform deep blue. Avoid any containers with crushed or leaking berries at the bottom. They also shouldn’t be incredibly soft to the touch or have noticeable ‘dents’.

How to use? Wash and eat by the handful. They’re also one of the fruits that you should prioritize getting organic (as well as the rest on the Dirty Dozen). Throw them into everything you make - yogurt, breakfast pancakes, smoothies. Blueberries are one of the most antioxidant-rich foods you can add to your diet!

Ataulfo Mango

How to choose? Ataulfo mangoes (AKA honey mangoes) should be a deep golden yellow with no green remaining. They should feel soft but not mushy (similar to how a perfect avocado feels to the touch). Wrinkles on the skin are fine, but you should consume immediately.

How to use? They’re one of the sweetest tasting mangoes! I would certainly have them raw - they make for the perfect midafternoon snack.

Papaya

How to choose? I know I know… we caught some flack for saying papayas are just worse mangoes but hey, a perfectly ripe papaya could sway me! Always look for papayas that are turning from green to golden-yellow, with skin that’s slightly soft to the touch. A ripe papaya will have a sweet, musky fragrance.

How to use? Slice in half, scoop out the seeds, and squeeze fresh lime over the flesh (I’ve been told this elevates them!). Also amazing in fruit salads or blended into a smoothie.

What are you looking forward to this month?

Eat like your ancestors II

Some foods will forever be in style. Enjoy a beautiful pomegranate. Make duck fat French fries. Sip on coconut water. Nourish yourself with homemade broth. These are foods our ancestors thrived on (part II). Here’s the link to part I.

Foods to reduce bloating

Feeling bloated feels horrible. Your face is puffy. Your gut doesn't feel good. The first step is eliminating all processed junk. Then you prioritize foods that minimize the bloat. Potassium rich foods. Organic citrus peels (yes it works). Fruit that supports digestion. Pectin. Fiber. Topical magnesium. Nourishing foods that heal your gut. What else would you add?

Honorable Mentions:
- Coconut Water
- Golden Kiwi (Skin ON)
- Papaya (I know it's just a poorer tasting mango but we cannot ignore how it supports digestive health hehe 😇🥂)

Seasonal produce for spring

Here’s your guide to Spring Produce! What are you looking forward to this season? 🌱 Healthy skin starts from within. And beyond that, it’s about incorporating products made with intentional ingredients - that’s always been our ideology.

Vitamin B6

Are you B6 maxxing? B6 is one of those vitamins that could be a "quick fix" if you're just feeling off. Maybe you're experiencing a lot of brain fog. You're moody all the time. Skin cracks more often. You might just need to do a reset and indulge in REAL food that nourishes you deeply.

These are some of the richest sources of B6 in the world. When we think of vitamins, we should always think of food first. We are so blessed to live in a world full of nourishment 🤍

❋ Making Zabaglione Gelato at Home (Step by Step Guide)

“Zabaglione Gelato is a delicious treat with a rich flavor and smooth, creamy texture. Making it at home takes more time than other gelato recipes because you need to prepare the zabaglione first and then mix it with the other ingredients. This dessert is perfect for anyone who loves natural, homemade Italian gelato made with high-quality ingredients.

To make authentic zabaglione gelato, you need to follow more steps than for classic gelato or yogurt gelato. First, prepare the zabaglione cream. Though it requires more effort, the final result is worth it: a gelato with intense flavor and a soft, creamy texture.”

❋ Citrus-Garlic Grilled Flap Meat (Carne Asada Style) by

“The truth is that the most flavorful cuts of meat are usually not the ones with the fancy names or the highest price tags. They’re the ones most people skip right past, the “what do I even do with this?” cuts. The ones sitting there with a discount sticker because nobody grew up cooking them.

That’s where flap meat comes in. It was sitting there at my local grocery store, marked down, kind of tucked between the usual suspects. Not ribeye, not filet, not even flank or skirt. Just flap meat—one of those cuts that butchers love and most people ignore. And that’s exactly why I grabbed it.

Because if you understand a few basic things, how muscles work, how to use acid, how to cook hot and fast, you can turn these overlooked cuts into something that eats better than half the steaks people overpay for.” —

❋ 5 things I loved in March by

“Some people splurge on designer clothes or bags. For me, my investment has always been in my tableware. I don’t know if it will appreciate the way a stock portfolio does, but with where the world is currently, I feel like I’ve made a sound investment.

When I think about the pieces I’ve reached for most this month, it’s my tiny bowl collection. I use them to store medication, for chopped herbs while cooking, or as the perfect addition to a meat and cheese board to hold nuts, dips, and other accoutrements. Some are storing jewelry, others are holding random nails I can’t seem to find a proper place for.

I really can’t speak more highly of them, and if I find a good one in a vintage store, I always have to buy it. Above are a selection I found across the web if you’re looking to expand or start a collection.” —

❋ Breakfast Tacos by

“Easy and delicious, any time of day! Breakfast tacos are customizable and riffable. It’s easy to sub in bacon and cooked potatoes for the sausage and hash browns, add black beans for extra heft, or swap in corn tortillas for the flour ones. Make these your own!

Notes:

• It’s easy to prep some of these ingredients ahead of time and reheat when ready to eat. The sausage and hash browns can both be cooked, cooled, and refrigerated for a few hours (or a day) in advance. The pico de gallo can also be made a day ahead. FYI, scrambled eggs are best made right before eating.

• An optional step that I think is worth doing: heat the tortillas in a dry skillet over high heat. This will not only warm them, but slightly char and crisp the edges, giving them a lovely toasty flavor and appearance.” —

❋ Best Sourdough Hot Cross Buns

“I didn’t grow up with hot cross buns. But my friend Celia did, and every Easter she makes the most gorgeous, perfectly plump hot cross buns for everyone to share. Talk about baker’s envy! (fun fact: she taught me how to bake this sourdough bread recipe too).

Inspired to play around, this is my hot cross bun recipe with active sourdough starter. My secret: combine the butter and flour first before adding the rest of the ingredients. It’s a step is most recipes skip. You’ll get soft, fluffy buns with a tender signature texture every time.

Head’s up: I use apricot jam for the glaze (instead of sugar) and cream cheese icing for the cross (instead of a flour paste). A standout addition to your sourdough bread recipes for sure.”

❋ Perfectly Pink Deviled Eggs Recipe

“Dating back to ancient Rome, devilled eggs have long been a favourite appetiser at gatherings around the globe. Their simplicity and versatility make them a popular choice for everything from casual picnics to formal dinners. But what exactly are deviled eggs? Let’s crack open this classic dish and find out! At its most basic, a deviled egg involves a hard-boiled egg, cut in half, with the yolk removed and mixed with other ingredients to create a tasty filling. This filling is then spooned or piped back into the hollowed-out egg white.

The “Devil” in Devilled Eggs

The term “deviled” dates back to the 18th century and was used to describe food that was cooked with spicy or hot seasonings, giving it a bit of a kick. So, when we talk about deviled eggs, we’re typically referring to eggs that have a bit of a zing to them, thanks to the addition of ingredients like mustard, paprika, cayenne pepper, or horseradish.”

More links:

❋ Smoked Kalamata Olives

❋ Walk-in Luxury Fridge

❋ Non-Toxic Baby Bottle

❋ Duck Spa

❋ Spring Color Combinations for Men

❋ April 2026 Culture Calendar

❋ Chocolate & Fruit Pairings

Have a beautiful Easter weekend! New digital issue dropping soon :)
— Rocky

Share

❋ All our digital issues are free to peruse. Explore our latest:

❋ Winter 25/26 Coffee Table Book (Print)

❋ Explore the full WARKITCHEN archive here.

❋ Got an article or recipe in mind? We’d love to hear more! Please send your pitch to rocky@warkitchen.net.

You need to be making beautiful water cocktails. Fresh pineapple. Oranges. Passion fruit. Lemon zest. Pomegranate. Real sea salt. You can simply use beautiful ingredients to make water cocktails that deeply quench your thirst. Hydration has never tasted this good!

All this with water as the BASE. Good water. Water without microplastics. Water without forever chemicals. Water with balanced minerals for elite hydration. Water so good it’s a joy having it on its own. is water as it should be. Offered in both Still & Sparkling. Tested for over 350 contaminates.

Here’s three cocktail recipe variants you can use - each centered around a beautiful fruit.

Pineapple

This is the cocktail you should enjoy on spring break, or perhaps after. And it’s so easy to make. All you need is a few chunks of ripe pineapple and a squeeze of lime.

Ingredients:

• Fresh pineapple, cut into chunks

• 1 lime, halved

• Pinch of sea salt

• Loonen Still water

Method:

Add the pineapple chunks to a mason jar and lightly mash them. Squeeze in the juice from half a lime. Sprinkle in a pinch of sea salt. Pour Loonen Still water over everything until the jar is full. Give the jar a good mix and let the flavors mix.

Passionfruit

A good passionfruit is one of the most underrated fruits in the world. I love the crunchy texture. Those little seeds pop in your mouth and they’re excellent in a water cocktail! You’ll make a water cocktail that looks as beautiful as it tastes.

Ingredients:

• 1 lemon

• 1 passion fruit

• Loonen Still water

• Ice

Method:

Squeeze fresh lemon juice into a mason jar. Cut your passion fruit in half and scoop those gorgeous seeds right in. Pour Loonen Still water over everything. Add ice to the top. Seal the jar and give it a good shake to bring it all together.

Orange

Still have a ton of citrus left over from Winter? Make your own spritz! It’s perfect to sip on as the days get warmer. Even better if you garnish your glass with orange peel.

Ingredients:

• 1 fresh orange (the best you can find)

• Loonen Sparkling water

• Ice

• Orange slice and a straw for garnish

Method:

Fill a beautiful glass with ice. Pour Loonen Sparkling water over the ice until the glass is about three-quarters full. Cut your orange in half and squeeze it directly into the glass by hand. Let the juice and pulp flow right in. Give it a gentle stir, then garnish with a fresh orange slice and a straw. Best enjoyed sun-kissed!

What’s your favorite water cocktail recipe?

The real superfoods

It's crazy how ANYTHING is a superfood these days. Everyone always talks about nuts, seeds and grain but nobody mentions the real foods that actually move the needle.

This is a selection of foods that deserve the superfood title (relax, don't judge the affogato selection until you've tried one - it has the unique ability of changing the trajectory of your day 🤭).

Superfoods in my opinion are foods that make you feel AMAZING after you've consumed them. They're foods you want to have in your rotation. They nourish you deeply and give your body the right building blocks for better health.

Why would you ever eat cereal?

A great breakfast is unmatched. The way butter spreads on toasted sourdough. Custardy egg yolk. Great cheese. Fruit. Honey. Sips of freshly pressed orange-pomegranate juice. A beautifully brewed cappuccino 17 minutes later. Pain au chocolat if you deserve a treat (you do). Breakfast is the best meal of the day. By far.

Foods to recover

Sometimes, you just need to recover. Use this weekend to recharge. Coconut water and real french fries for potassium. Citrus, watermelon and pineapple for elite hydration. Homemade broth for your gut. Black seed oil for the remnants of Winter flu. Fatty ribeyes and good eggs for your muscles. Sourdough raw (rare) honey breakfast. Liver pâté. Six oysters. Fatty fish. Lucky blueberry. And of course, a slice of basque cheesecake for your soul.

❋ Banana Toffee Tart

“As part of my recipe development process, I do a lot of research, whether related to ingredients or techniques. One of my favorite things to look into are cuisines that I am not closely familiar with. It’s always exciting to think about the flavor combination treasures to be found in parts of the world, that I haven’t been fortunate to know. Toffee banana is one of those – I made a note of it some time ago and recently got around to playing with the idea.

Toffee bananas are a Chinese dessert, which consists of deep-fried bananas, generously topped with toffee and garnished with sesame seeds. You’ll see that the tart I came up with has very little to do with the original idea, but it’s those kinds of things – recipe titles, ingredient pairings, or even color combinations, that often give me a push to come up with new dishes that I’m excited about.

The thought of cooking whole bananas has always intrigued me, but my fear was that the already sweet fruit would become unbearably saccharine. This tart turned everything around for me – the cooked bananas are sweet of course, but they also get a heavenly, creme brûlée-like caramel crust and become even more buttery and tender.”

❋ The Victorian Catalogue of Household Goods

“For readers fascinated by everyday life in the nineteenth century, this book opens a window into the Victorian home. It answers the curiosity about how people furnished their rooms, prepared their tables, and filled their households with objects that blended practicality with ornament.

Inside, detailed line drawings and vintage catalogue reproductions reveal everything from ornate teapots and porcelain dishes to sewing tools, lamps, furniture, and decorative household items. The illustrations capture the craftsmanship and decorative style of the period, with intricate patterns, carved details, and elegant forms that defined Victorian domestic life.

✨ Many of the illustrations in this book are based on authentic nineteenth century mail order catalogues. These catalogues were once used by households across Britain to purchase furniture, clothing, and household items long before modern department stores existed.

A fascinating collectible for lovers of social history, vintage design, and books that reveal the hidden beauty of everyday objects from the past.”

❋ How to Make Your Home Feel Like a Boutique Hotel | Part One by

“If a living room were a hotel, it would be the lobby. The main space. The place everyone passes through and eventually settles into.

In a great hotel lobby, the furniture is arranged in little vignettes that encourage conversation. Nothing feels accidental. There’s usually a breathtaking fireplace. Beautiful coffee table books. Plenty of small tables so no one is awkwardly balancing a drink. It’s comfortable, but curated.

The lobby is the face and heart of a hotel. Your living room should feel the same.” —

❋ Mini Orange Flan Cakes

“These Mini Orange Flan Cakes are my new favorite dessert. The combination of the creme caramel and the orange fluffy chiffon cake makes this dessert really special. There are three important steps to making this zesty, sweet, custardy cake – Caramel, Creamy Custard and Fluffy Chiffon Cake.”

> I would personally use a good avocado oil as the neutral oil in this recipe :)

❋ March Favorites by

“There is really no such thing as a “breakfast” food or a “lunch” food. Once you realize those invisible barriers don’t really exist in adulthood a whole new world of opportunities opens up lol. I have realized that I love a warm and savory breakfast in the morning, and that is coming from someone who used to eat smoothies and fruity oatmeal and yogurt bowls every day. Now I find myself craving more warming, nourishing, meals like soups, porridge, congee, stew. I have been loving a traditional Japanese breakfast as well—some rice, miso soup, salmon, pickled veggies. So delicious and makes me feel so good going about my day.” —

❋ Chocolate Hazelnut Marjolaine

“This classic French dessert is an absolute show stopper whenever it’s on the menu. And while it might seem a little daunting to make at first, when broken down into three or four components it is much more approachable. First make the hazelnut meringue. Once that is in the oven, make the pastry cream, then chill that before you beat some softened butter into it to make buttercream. The ganache is quite simple to make.

Assembling the marjolaine can take a little patience and skill, but with practice and perseverance you can look forward to wowing all you serve it to.”

More links:

❋ Nettle: The Herb for Spring by

❋ How to Properly Peel Mandarin Oranges

❋ Make Dragon Fruit Sourdough

❋ Mediterranean Sea Bream

❋ Ten of Radishes

❋ Aerated Vegetable Drawers

❋ Tomatoes by Taste

Articles worth paying for:

❋ How to Have a Nutrient-Dense Diet by

❋ 2026 Spring Reset Guide by

Have a beautiful weekend! New digital issue dropping soon :)
— Rocky

Share

❋ All our digital issues are free to peruse. Explore our latest:

❋ WARKITCHEN March 2026 Spotify Playlist

❋ Winter 25/26 Coffee Table Book (Print)

❋ Explore the full WARKITCHEN archive here.

❋ Got an article or recipe in mind? We’d love to hear more! Please send your pitch to rocky@warkitchen.net.

Normalize willing things into existence. Want a coffee? Get it. Curious about making cheesecake? Do it. Always wanted to finish that book? Read it. Refuse to let yourself think. Minimize the time between wanting and getting. Everything in your life will change.

I’ll leave you with that for the weekend!

P.S. if you’re reading this, you should enjoy a tasteful affogato this Sunday afternoon. Make one and tag us on Instagram @thewarkitchen 🥂

Eat like your ancestors

Some foods will forever be in style. Enjoy honeys of different hues. Collect niche olive oil like wine. Indulge in banned cheese. Snack on sweet dates and the jammiest of figs. These are foods our ancestors thrived on.

You can eat everything

You can eat EVERYTHING - now available in beautiful PRINT in our latest coffee table book. You can get yourself a copy here. Remember, we're human beings. There's no need for a radical diet. Simply avoid modern poisons and eat like our ancestors did. Build meals around quality protein. Prepare grains the right way. Enjoy tasteful dessert. This is what we'll always stand for. While stocks last 🥂

Fruit tier list

From a pure taste perspective, the papaya is simply a worse mango... What's your favorite fruit?

❋ Gâteau Basque

“For a long time I have wanted to bring you the recipe for this simple and spectacular Gâteau Basque. We often tend to complicate our recipes thinking that the more laborious the recipe, the better the result. Certainly, in some cases this may be the case, but in many cases it is not necessary. And today we can see an example.

Looking at this recipe, it may remind us of a custard pie and, to be honest, I think that this definition is not far off the mark. It just looks that way on the surface.

Once again, we delve into the mystery of the origin of a culinary delicacy: Gâteau Basque. Some claim that the recipe originated in Cambo-les-Bains, at Marianne Hirigoyen’s Pâtisserie, in the mid-19th century. Others claim that it was in Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle, at the Maison Péreuil, where it has been made with the same recipe since 1876.

Some even point to places such as Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Biarritz or Sare, where today you can find a museum dedicated to the Gâteau Basque. The controversy also revolves around whether the “canonical” Gâteau Basque is the cream cake, which ingredients are essential or whether adding jam is culinary heresy.”

❋ Spring Equinox Rituals by

“Winter is a time of rest & recovery, reflection & restoration. Spring is the true reset. People say the new year starts January 1st, but I think a better and more realistic new years is the start of spring. A time for shedding the old to make room for the new. Letting the rain drops to clean the slate and making room for seeds to sprout, grow & bloom!!

So with that being said, these are all of the rituals and habits I love to aide in that mind & body transition and fall into rhythm with the new season!!” —

❋ Why I think Sigmund Freud must've played tennis by

“The unsettling feeling when something feels strangely familiar but at the same time extremely foreign was termed Unheimlich by Sigmund Freud. I couldn’t help but immediately think of a tennis match. When we step on a court to play a match, we are thrown into a situation where we simultaneously know exactly what’s about to happen and not at all. We intimately know the lines that form the square in which the game will be played, we know how to count the score, we know the rules (and we will dispute them with anybody who dares) and more often than not we know the opponent on the other side of the net. At the same time, anything can happen. We may win, we may lose, we could play beautifully, we could fail miserably. So much known, but the important part unknown. Some call it stage fright others nerves but being so deeply familiar with the parameters of a sport without ever grasping the entire essence of it, without ever being able to fully control it, creates the feeling of being out at sea, far away from shore, the ocean is rough and the only thing you can see is your life jacket floating away. Or as Freud called it: The Uncanny.” —

❋ Banana, Coconut and Honey-Cream Tarts

“There is something about mini / individual desserts that make the process of making it much more pleasant. Take for instance these little Banana Coconut and Honey Cream Tarts. The idea of making these little tart shells to me is something that doesnt really seem worth my time, but once I see this cute image (made with mini bananas no less!) my mind is changed. I also love a lighter cream filling in the summer, and I think this is a super great alternative to something like strawberry shortcake, if you’re not in a strawberry type of mood. I’m a big fan of banana anything, so this is a new fav dessert recipe for me. I hope you guys like it too.”

❋ Why Grounded Lighting Matters: The nnEMF Advantage of Three-Prong Systems by

“An incandescent bulb is electrically simple. The current flows through a tungsten filament, which behaves like a resistor. In electrical engineering terms:

• The current follows a smooth sinusoidal waveform from the AC grid.

• There are no electronic circuits inside the bulb.

• The filament simply converts electrical energy into heat and light.

Because of that simplicity, there’s very little high-frequency electrical noise, the electric field around the device is mostly the standard 50/60 Hz field from household wiring, and if the fixture is grounded, stray voltage can dissipate into earth instead of building up on the housing.

So electrically, incandescent bulbs behave like a quiet, stable load.” —

❋ Mango and Miso Caramel Waffle Ice Cream Sandwiches

“Sweet, tangy, salty, savoury - the mango and miso caramel filling of these waffle ice cream sandwiches is a real flavour bomb.”

Share

❋ All our digital issues are free to peruse. Explore our latest:

❋ Permanent Nostalgia: For songs that transport you into a world you once knew

❋ Winter 25/26 Coffee Table Book (Print)

❋ Explore the full WARKITCHEN archive here.

❋ Got an article or recipe in mind? We’d love to hear more! Please send your pitch to rocky@warkitchen.net.